The Voyages of the USS Enterprise
by Dark Satirist
Summary: Space. The final frontier. These are the voyages of the USS Enterprise. It's 5 year mission: to explore strange new worlds.To seek out new life and new civilizations.  To boldly go where no man has gone before. Reboot: The series.
1. Journey to Babel Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: If I owned them, then the second movie would be out by now. Simple as that.**

**Author's Note: Greetings from the Goldilocks planet. I am currently enjoying my twenty-four day year. It's very nice here; very secluded. Kinda windy, though. Oh well. **

**In case any of you have no idea what that means, scientists have recently discovered a planet that has conditions extremely similar to ones here on Earth which they are now calling the Goldilocks planet. Look it up on Google if you are interested. **

**Welcome to the madness of what I'm calling the project of pure insanity, love, and not just a little bit of terrifying cliffhangers. This is something I started over a year ago when I was watching _Journey to Babel_ (a really good episode of TOS) and really wanted to write a story from the reboot Star Trek about it. And then a few months ago, I was reading this epic _Firefly_ FanFic called _Forward_ and decided that my _Journey to Babel _story needed to become the first in an epic story. So, what originally started out as roughly a fifteen paged, ten chapter story turned into a mammoth 18-paged outline of what is going to be essentially Star Trek: The Reboot _Series_. Yep. And the more I started writing this outline, the more I got inspired for the _Quirks of Jim Kirk_ story... and then the two ended up merging together in an insane fashion. There are mentions to _Quirks of Jim Kirk _in here and mentions of this story in _Quirks of Jim Kirk. _You do not have to read _Quirks of Jim Kirk_ in order to understand this, but it is highly reccommended. **

**So. You are hereby cordially invited to join me on the adventure I would like to call "The Voyages of the USS _Enterprise." _This will be a tale of friendship, adventure, love, heartbreak, insanity (both good and bad), war, peace, destruction, and a whole lot of dramatic angst thrown in for kicks. ****Assume that you know absolutely nothing, for everything that you know will come to be false. Expect the unexpected. Predictions about what is going to happen should be taken with extreme care because you are most likely going to be wrong. **

**Reviews are appreciated. Constructive criticism is welcome. Blatant hate mail is neither appreciated nor welcome and if you do so, I will block you and report you. You are hereby warned.**

**And with great enthusasim:**

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The Voyages of the _USS Enterprise_

**Arc 1**_: The Journey to Babel_

**Summary of arc:** For it's first mission, the _Enterprise_ is assigned to see foreign ambassadors of different planets to Babel, a neutral planet in the middle of the solar system. What should be an easy mission goes drastically wrong as the ambassadors decide they don't like each other, a murder occurs, and the _Enterprise_is nearly destroyed by an enemy ship.

**Chapter 1: Tellarites, Andorians, and Vulcans. Oh Shit.**

* * *

Jim fiddled with the sleeves of his dress uniform, itching absently at the skin underneath. He stopped instantly at a glare from his best friend and CMO, Leonard 'Bones' McCoy.

"You're not gonna have any skin left on your wrist if you keep doing that," the doctor growled. "And I just finished repairing that one too. Don't do anything to mess it up."

Jim rolled his eyes and sighed, forcing his hands to still by his side. He was nervous. The fledgling crew of the _Enterprise_ was playing host to several different ambassadors who were on their way to a peace treaty conference in Babel. The crew was only supposed to play host and keep the peace, not take part in any discussions about the conference. This would be the first real mission the _Enterprise_ had had since the whole Nero debacle. Jim was determined to make sure everything went right.

"Shuttle craft seven approaching," an ensign reported from the controls. "Shuttle bay opening."

Jim took a deep breath and plastered on what he hoped was a friendly smile as the rest of his crew prepared for the arrival of their guests.

"Relax, Captain," Spock said from behind Jim. "It is the Vulcan ambassadors. They are highly honored to be meeting you again after you saved their lives."

Jim felt a tinge of regret and guilt shoot through him. He didn't deserve the Vulcans' respect. He hadn't done enough to save their planet. He had let billions of innocent Vulcans die in the black hole because he had been too slow to figure out what had been happening. He wished someone would understand that.

The doors to the _Enterprise_ from the shuttle bay opened, revealing a very familiar Vulcan and a small party of younger male Vulcans. Jim couldn't help but smile at the sight of Sarek. He had developed a genuine fondness for Spock's father after the older Vulcan had saved his life.

He walked forward to greet them, his fingers parting in the traditional Vulcan greeting Spock had taught him hours before hand. Spock trailed behind him.

"Welcome aboard the _Enterprise_, Ambassador Sarek," Jim said, nodding his head respectfully to both men. "We are greatly honored with your presence aboard our ship."

"It is we that are honored with your presence, Captain Kirk," Sarek said lifting his hand in the greeting as well. "Live long and prosper."

Jim felt his cheeks heat and stepped aside to allow the Vulcans to past.

"Commander Spock will show you to your quarters," Jim said, walking to stand beside his First Officer and CMO. "The rest of the ambassadors are already on board. Dinner will be served in the galley in one hour. If you have any needs, please feel free to contact the Commander."

The Vulcan ambassador nodded. Spock left Jim's side to lead the Vulcans to their quarters, leaving Jim and Doctor McCoy alone.

"You are dismissed," Jim said to the crew. "Be sure to report for dinner in an hour."

The crew members nodded before dispersing. Jim made to leave as well, but Doctor McCoy put a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Jim," the doctor said quietly. "Are you okay?"

Jim turned, plastering another fake smile on his face.

"Yeah, Bones, I'm fine," he said.

It wasn't entirely true. A little over two weeks ago, Jim had been shot trying to play the hero when someone brought an antique gun to the Academy and shot up the place. Jim had been trying to save a bunch of first-year cadets from said mad-man and ended up being shot twice in the chest and once in the wrist. The wounds were slow to heal, since Jim was allergic to the majority of the medications needed to help speed up the process.

"Yeah, and I'm a physicist," Doctor McCoy growled. The older man sighed. "Take it easy for a while, okay? I'm not quite ready to lose your stupid ass just yet."

"Aw, Bones, you're sweet when you're an over protective bastard," Jim said, smirking. He clapped a hand on a scowling McCoy's shoulder. "I'll be okay. I swear. Besides, it's a diplomatic mission! What could possibly go wrong?"

"This is you we're talking about, remember?" Doctor McCoy asked. "You can't go into a school without being shot at or beat up or poisoned."

"Hey, that last time was not my fault," Jim said defensively. "How the hell was I supposed to know that a Romulan was at a McDonalds and just happened to be sympathetic toward Nero's causes?"

"You had a damned McFlurry, Jim! And you nearly died!" Doctor McCoy exclaimed. "You passed out in front of the damned play area. If Chekov hadn't found you, you would have died."

"Well, it's a good thing Chekov wanted a Happy Meal, isn't it?" Jim said with a smile. "I'll see you at dinner."

He heard his friend sigh and grumble some form of swear word. Jim's smile grew into a grin as he left the shuttle bay and headed toward his quarters.

* * *

There was only one word to describe the dinner Jim walked in on and that was chaotic. Everyone was yelling and shouting at each other, demanding to be heard over their fellow allies. He stood in the doorway, shocked and slightly amused at the sight of supposed dignitaries at each other's throats.

He spotted Spock standing in the corner, looking composed and expressionless, as usual, though Jim would have sworn that he saw something akin to disdain in the older man's eyes.

A blue skinned Andorian and a pair of Tellarites stood next to Sarek, carrying on a conversation. From the looks of one of the Tellarites, the conversation was a heated discussion that might eventually turn into something worse. Jim walked over to them, thinking that it wouldn't reflect well on him if he wound up getting an ambassador or two killed.

"Are you implying that the Tellarites are keeping Coridan out of the Federation so we can continue with our alleged antics of stealing the dilithium?" one of the Tellarites, (_Gav_, Jim remembered) demanded.

Sarek looked highly affronted for a Vulcan.

"I never said such thing," the Ambassador said.

"Perhaps what Ambassador Sarek means is that it is merely coincidental that the Tellarites have a prosperous supply of dilithium crystals although it is true that the crystals are not found on your home planet," Jim interrupted, sensing that if he didn't intervene that something was going to happen. "I am sure that it is merely, as I said a coincidence."

Gav looked annoyed and turned to his Tellarite friend, grumbling something in their native language before wandering off with dark looks on their faces. The blue skinned Andorian chuckled.

"Gav is a highly emotional creature," the man said. "Excuse me, Ambassador Sarek. I have matters that I need to attend to. It was most pleasant seeing you again in the wake of your recent tragedy. Best wishes to you and yours."

Sarek bowed his head once with respect as the Andorian left.

"What was that about?" Jim asked.

"The Tellarites wanted to know my position about Coridan being let in to the Federation," Ambassador Sarek said.

"Aren't the decisions supposed to be kept quiet until you reach Babel?" Jim asked.

"Precisely, Captain," Ambassador Sarek said. "Excuse me. I must retire to my quarters for meditation."

Jim watched in reservation as the older Vulcan turned and left the room. By now, most of the arguing had died down as the dinner party began to decrease in size. Jim spotted Doctor McCoy enter the room, looking ill at ease in his dress uniform. Jim hid a smirk as he walked over to his friend. Spock joined them as well, his hands in their usual position behind his back.

"This is going rather well," Jim said dryly, standing in between his two friends.

"Captain, I must admit, I do not understand your statement," Spock said, looking quizzically at Jim. "Things are going, to use a human phrase, 'to hell in a hand basket'."

"It's Jim," Jim said shortly. "And I was being sarcastic, Spock. But hey, look at the bright side, no one has died yet."

"You say that like it's inevitable," Doctor McCoy groused.

"You two are so delightful to be around," Jim said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "I think I might go enjoy a rather engaging conversation with the lovely woman in blue. I hear she has a tribble."

"The woman in blue does not speak any known language," Spock said in his usual crisp manner. "I doubt that even if you were able to talk to her the conversation would be engaging."

"Sarcasm, Spock," Jim said. "It's called sarcasm."

Spock looked passive while Doctor McCoy looked as though he were about to burst out laughing. Jim smirked.

The ship's intercom squawked with Uhura's voice, demanding for Jim to call the bridge. Jim exchanged a look with Spock before walking over to the nearest communicator.

"Kirk here," he said, speaking quietly so he would not disturb the rest of the party.

"_Captain, we have detected a strange anomaly on the ship's sensors. It appears to be a ship of some kind_," Uhura said.

"I'll be right there," Jim said. "Kirk out."

He turned to Spock, signaling for the Vulcan to follow him. Spock did so instantly.

"What is it, Captain?" the First Officer asked.

"Lieutenant Uhura has detected a ship on our sensors," Jim explained. "Keep an eye on everyone for me while I go check it out, will you?"

Spock looked as though he wanted to say something about what Jim said but then changed his mind. He dipped his head in acceptance.

"Yes, Captain," he said.

Jim nodded once before turning on his heel and striding out of the party.

* * *

The bridge was a welcome escape from the chaos of the party in the mess hall. Jim felt himself instantly relax as he walked through the turbo lift doors and onto the quiet bridge.

Uhura, Chekov, and Sulu were alone at their stations. At any other time, Jim might have rattled off a suggestive comment, but frankly, he was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to take care of the issue at hand and go to sleep.

"Captain," Sulu greeted.

"Sulu," Jim replied. He turned to Uhura. "What is the status on the anomaly, Lieutenant?"

"It is definitely some kind of ship, sir," Uhura said. "We are uncertain as to the identity, though we are positive that it is neither Romulan nor Klingon."

"Have you tried hailing them?"

"Multiple times. We have received static in response."

"Lovely. Keep me posted, all right? I'll be at the party."

Jim turned, reluctant to leave the peaceful bridge and return to calming insane diplomats. But, as his duty as Captain of a Federation flag ship, he knew that he was obligated to look after the diplomats, no matter how impossible of a task it may have seemed.

"Jim?"

At the sound of Uhura's soft voice, Jim turned, raising an eyebrow in surprise. Since Bones and Spock had rescued him the insane gunman, the ship's crew had been perfect. Even Uhura and Bones had refrained from their usual cracks at Jim.

"Nyota?"

Uhura smirked ever so slightly. "How's the party?"

Jim rolled his eyes and left the bridge, not even bothering to dignify _that_ with a response. Everyone on the _Enterprise_ was well aware of the fact their Captain hated diplomatic proceedings, but they also teased him mercilessly for it. Jim knew that he wouldn't have it any other way.

* * *

Jim wandered down the empty hallways of the ship, in absolutely no hurry to get back to the mess hall. Bones would probably bitch him out later for the delay, but Jim didn't care. He needed to be alone for a while. After the events at the Academy everyone had been suffocating him. Jim had hardly time to catch his breath and process what had happened, let alone make intelligent decisions about the ship and the daily running of it. He needed a break, if only for a little while.

Jim sighed heavily as he meandered down another hallway, thinking that for all the time he had known about the ship and had been Captain of it, he still knew next to nothing about the layout.

He passed the entrance to the engineering deck, stopping when something caught his eye. It was a body, locked in the antigravity chamber. Jim recognized it with a start. It was Gav.

"Oh shit," he said. "That is so not good."


	2. Journey to Babel Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I only own a DVD copy of the movie, the first season of _TOS_, a couple of collector's edition DVD sets of _TOS_, _Wrath of Khan_, and two glasses with Spock/Jim on them from Burger King. I do not own anything else. Though man, I wish I did.**

**Author's Note: I saw a geek(ier) version of Zachary Quinto at McCallisters tonight. His name was James. I freaked out. He had the glasses, the hair... it was CREEPY! And kinda awesome. Though he totally forgot to give me my mac and cheese. **

**Author's Note 2: Thank you all for your wonderful reviews! I will respond to them in more detail here shortly. I'm kind of behind at the moment, but I will make it a point to respond to every single one of the signed reviews. **

**Author's Note 3: It's been close to four months since I last watched _Journey to Babel_, so if the details are a little fuzzy and a little out of order, I claim artistic liberties and a faulty memory. I am not a Vulcan. Plus... it was never going to be exactly the same anyway.**

**Author's Note 4: Giotto=Cupcake. I read that name on another FanFiction written by AngelBaby1 and thought that it was his real name. I'm not sure if it is, so if it's not, I apologize to AngelBaby1 for stealing her character. I did not mean to. It was purely accidental if I did. **

**And without further ado:**

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The Voyages of the _USS Enterprise_

**Arc 1**_: The Journey to Babel_

**Summary of arc:** For it's first mission, the _Enterprise_ is assigned to see foreign ambassadors of different planets to Babel, a neutral planet in the middle of the solar system. What should be an easy mission goes drastically wrong as the ambassadors decide they don't like each other, a murder occurs, and the _Enterprise_is nearly destroyed by an enemy ship.

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Chapter 2: Understatement

Security came quickly, with Lieutenant Giotto leading the patrol. Under any other circumstances, Jim might have made a crack about the tall burly man not having a date to the dinner party, but it just felt wrong here.

"Well, that's not good," Lieutenant Giotto said.

"Thank you for stating the obvious, Lieutenant," Jim said shrewdly. "If you could get this man out of the chamber and down to sick bay for Doctor McCoy, that would be most appreciated."

"Certainly, Captain," Lieutenant Giotto said, just as sarcastically.

Jim sighed as the security men got to work. Some things would never change.

"Tell Doctor McCoy I will be at the party," he said. "Call me if there are any other disturbances."

* * *

The party was still just as chaotic as it had been when he left it, Jim noted with a sigh as he walked back into the crowded room. Spock stood in the far corner where Jim had left him. Doctor McCoy had left, obviously, to perform the autopsy on the Tellarite.

"Captain," Spock greeted Jim with a nod. "What is the progress on the unknown ship?"

"It is neither Romulan nor Klingon that we know of," Jim said. He nodded to one of the diplomats and then leaned closer to Spock. "One of the diplomats has been murdered."

Spock's eyebrow rose slightly in alarm.

"Who was murdered?"

"Gav," Jim said grimly. "Bones is performing the autopsy as we speak. He should have results for us in an hour or so."

"Where was the body found?" Spock asked.

"In the anti-gravity chamber," Jim replied. "Near the engineering deck."

"Right outside of the Vulcan quarters," Spock stated.

Jim stared at Spock in surprise as his mind made the logical leap.

"Are you suggesting that one of your own killed Gav?"

"No," Spock said shortly. "Quite the contrary. Someone must have killed Gav to make it appear as though the Vulcans had. Were there any weapon wounds on his body?"

"I don't know for sure," Jim said. "I don't think so, though."

"Fascinating," Spock said.

"What's fascinating?" Jim inquired.

"To kill one such as Gav with no weapon requires an extraordinary amount of strength," Spock said. "Only a Vulcan or a Romulan could have done it."

"Are you suggesting that there is a Romulan onboard the ship?" Jim demanded incredulously.

"I am not suggesting anything at this point in time," Spock replied calmly. "I must speak with my father and with the other Vulcan ambassadors before I can come to a logical conclusion."

"Then let's go," Jim said urgently.

"You, Captain, should stay here," Spock said. "To keep order."

Jim scowled but nodded.

"Keep me posted," he said.

Spock nodded once before exiting the room.

* * *

Jim was in his element in the room full of foreign diplomats. Despite the fact that he was exhausted and had a lot on his mind, he conversed easily with everyone in the room. He proved that he could be charming, hold his own in an intelligent conversation, and that he was better informed on the subject of Coridian joining the Federation than most everyone in the room.

And, much to everyone's surprise, the strange woman in blue spoke a halting form of Standard, which Jim discovered much by accident. She refrained from speaking because she didn't want to embarrass herself. She and Jim enjoyed a conversation about the merits of the Kobayashi Maru. It was one of the better conversations Jim had all night.

By the time Spock returned to the party nearly an hour and a half later, Jim had successfully calmed down the diplomats and managed to restore some form of order to the room.

"What did Sarek say, Mr. Spock?" Jim asked, ignoring the surprised raise of an eyebrow his First Officer sent him.

"He was most intrigued by the events that had taken place," Spock reported. "But he knew very little about the events with Gav. He logically concluded that without an autopsy or witnesses to the event, it will be highly unlikely that we will discover the Tellarite's attacker.

"That's pleasant," Jim muttered, sighing heavily. "I wish _something_ could go right for once. Well, we should probably start wrapping up this party."

"It would be highly illogical to wrap up a party," Spock said with utter seriousness.

Jim stared. He couldn't tell if Spock was joking or not.

"I meant let's end this thing before the diplomats get tired," he clarified. "They act like children enough as it is."

"That is quite an amusing, if somewhat accurate description," Spock said.

_Huh_, Jim thought. _So the older Spock wasn't lying. Vulcans do have a sense of humor._

* * *

Jim sat down in the captain's chair, relieved to finally have the party over with. He highly doubted that even with years of experience he would ever enjoy those stupid diplomatic things.

Uhura was still attempting to hail the unknown ship, only without any luck. The ship was hovering right outside of sensor range, which was really beginning to annoy Jim. It appeared as though the ship knew exactly just how far the _Enterprise_'s sensing range was. And very few people outside of the ones who ran and built the ship knew that. It was troubling to say the least.

"I'm sorry, Captain," she said again for the fifth time since Jim had arrived on the bridge. Her voice was full of frustration. "I can't reach them."

"It's okay, Lieutenant," Jim said, stretching his arms. "You've been at it for two hours now. If they haven't answered your hails yet, then they're probably not going to."

"I wish we knew _what_ they wanted," Uhura said, staring in annoyance down at her computer counsel. "And whether they mean us harm."

"Knowing my luck, they're probably some sort of weird mutated human race that wants to pillage my ship," Jim said sardonically.

Uhura smiled slightly.

"Yeah, it's a good thing we have Spock onboard," she said. "So he can balance out some of your bad karma. Otherwise, we'd all be screwed."

"Your confidence in me is so inspiring," Jim said, rolling his eyes. "Any news from sick bay yet?"

"No, sir," Uhura replied.

"Damn," Jim said, sighing heavily. "I was really looking forward to solving one mystery tonight."

"Keptin?" Chekov asked, turning to face Jim.

"What is it, kid?" Jim asked. He recognized the thoughtful look on the young ensign's face. The last time he had seen it they had defeated Nero.

"Vould it be possible for the unknown ship to be ze reason why ze diplomat is dead?"

Jim thought for a moment.

"Anything's possible," he conceded. "But it is highly unlikely. What would anyone stand to gain with the Tellarite's death?"

"Well, it is a well-known fact that the Tellarites are very outspoken against the Coridians becoming a part of the Federation," Uhura said. "Maybe the assassin is a Coridian?"

"And the ship out there is full of Coridian pirates, just waiting to take over the _Enterprise_?" Jim asked sarcastically.

Uhura shrugged. "Stranger things have happened. And you said it yourself, anything's possible."

"Interesting theory, I'll give you that," Jim said. He sighed as the doors to the turbo lift slid open behind him. "I'm too damn tired to be thinking about secret plots and murders."

"Well, is there anything in the captain's conduct code that prevents him from going to bed? Or does he have to drive himself into exhaustion and be shot a few times before that happens?"

"Bones!" Jim said, plastering a fake smile on his face as his friend walked over. "What's the news on the dead Tellarite?"

"Well, he wasn't killed by any weapon that I know of," Doctor McCoy responded as he halted in his customary place directly behind Jim's chair. "But he did have a high presence of diluted lithium nitrate in his system."

"Isn't lithium nitrate poisonous to Tellarites?" Jim asked.

He received surprised looks from Chekov and Uhura and a raised eyebrow from Doctor McCoy. He didn't dignify them with a response.

"Someone paid attention in their xenobiology class," Doctor McCoy grumbled. "And to answer your question, yes, it is. It's not exactly common knowledge, though. Only someone with an understanding of the Tellarite immune system would know that sort of information."

"Were there any punctures on his body?" Jim asked.

"There was no sign that the lithium nitrate had been injected," Doctor McCoy said. "But I'm almost one hundred percent certain that it was ingested. And recently, too."

"How recently?" Jim wanted to know.

"An hour ago," Doctor McCoy said. "At the latest."

"So whoever poisoned our dear friend Gav was at the party," Jim said, getting up from his chair. He began to pace between the communications counsel and the engineering counsel. "But who was it? Bones, you were at the party. Did anyone there seemed suspicious to you?"

"No," Doctor McCoy said. "But then, I'm a doctor, not a detective. I don't think anyone looks suspicious."

Jim sighed, running a hand through his hair as he halted right in front of his chair.

"Okay, okay," he said. "So no one looked suspicious. Uhura, can you have Giotto down in security to check the descriptions of the diplomats against the security holos?"

"Yes, Captain," Uhura said, punching some buttons on her counsel. She gasped suddenly. "Captain, I'm receiving an emergency signal from the Vulcan quarters! It's Spock! He's requesting McCoy to get down there as soon as possible!"

"Tell him I'm on my way," McCoy said, looking anxious. "You coming, Jim?"

"Uhura, you have the conn," Jim said in response.

* * *

**Lots of artistic liberties taken in this chapter. As far as I know, Tellarites probably aren't allergic to lithium nitrate... but whatever. Also... kudos to anyone who can point out the not so vague reference to _Firefly_. You will be my favorite person if you review and tell me about it. I have become obsessed with _Firefly _and pretty much all things Nathan Fillion. Just so you know. So there will probably be a lot of references to _Firefly, Serenity,_ and some random moments of _Castle_ included. Just to give you a heads up.**


	3. Journey to Babel Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I only own a DVD copy of the movie, the first season of _TOS_, a couple of collector's edition DVD sets of _TOS_, _Wrath of Khan_, and two glasses with Spock/Jim on them from Burger King. I do not own anything else. Though man, I wish I did.**

**Author's Note: So... I'm not too sure about this chapter. There is a random scene between Jim and two Andorians that will end up being important to the story later... but it seems really out of place here. Hopefully I didn't botch it up too badly.**

**Author's Note 2: I am competing in NaNoWriMo... and I'm using this story. So expect a lot more frequent updates. That... and I pretty much have this first arc finished. I'm just going back and adding a few things here and there. **

**And without further ado:**

**

* * *

**

The Voyages of the _USS Enterprise_

**Arc 1**_: The Journey to Babel_

**Summary of arc:** For it's first mission, the _Enterprise_ is assigned to see foreign ambassadors of different planets to Babel, a neutral planet in the middle of the solar system. What should be an easy mission goes drastically wrong as the ambassadors decide they don't like each other, a murder occurs, and the _Enterprise_is nearly destroyed by an enemy ship.

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Chapter 3: Of Fights, Imposters, and Risks

Jim and Doctor McCoy had almost made it to the Vulcan ambassadors' quarters when Jim was paged via intercom.

"Go," Jim told his friend, who was obviously torn between his duty to the medical emergency and finding out what Jim was needed for. "I'll meet you in sick bay."

Doctor McCoy nodded once before disappearing around the corner. Jim walked over to the intercom.

"Kirk here."

"_It's Giotto,_" the head of security said. "_There has been a disturbance in the housing deck. Two Andorians were arguing. It was starting to get violent so I moved them to conference room two. They're requesting your presence._"

"Damn it," Jim sighed. He pressed the reply button. "I'll be right there. Kirk out."

Knowing that Doctor McCoy would understand, Jim turned back around and headed for the turbo lift.

* * *

Lieutenant Giotto and two other ensigns from security were standing outside of conference room two. They saluted as Jim approached. He waved them off and paused outside of the room to speak to Giotto.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"I'm not really sure," Giotto admitted. "Witnesses say that the Andorian ambassador accused another Andorian of not being a true Andorian. The other Andorian told the ambassador that he was a traitor to his race, that he was weak and pathetic."

"Joy," Jim muttered. "Well, thank you for keeping an eye on them for me. Could you send a message down to Doctor McCoy in sick bay and tell him what is happening?"

"Yes, Captain," Lieutenant Giotto said. He moved out of the way so Jim could enter the conference room.

The two Andorians were sitting on opposite ends of the table, glaring at each other with thinly veiled hostility. Jim sighed. He already had one murder on his hands—he really did not want another one. Especially his. What would Giotto say to McCoy if Jim was killed by two violent Andorians?

"Captain," one of the Andorians said in a measured voice.

Jim recognized him instantly as the one from the party who apologized for Gav's antics.

"Ambassador," Jim said with a nod of his head. He took a seat between the two Andorians and folded his hands on the table. "What seems to be the problem here, gentlemen?"

"This man sitting on your left is not a true Andorian," the Andorian ambassador said stiffly.

"This _ambassador_ is a liar!" the other Andorian snapped. "He does not know what he speaks of! I am a true Andorian!"

"Lies!" the ambassador hissed. He turned to Jim, his eyes blazing with anger. "This man is an imposter!"

"What evidence do you have to support this?" Jim asked, feeling as though he was beating his head up against a wall.

"I was speaking to him in the language of our own kind," the Andorian ambassador said. "And he did not know what I was saying."

"Is this true?" Jim asked, turning to the other Andorian.

"It is not!" he said firmly. "I understood perfectly what the ambassador was saying. I merely disagreed with it. I attempted to tell him this, but he seemed unable to understand me."

"_Lies_!" the Andorian ambassador growled. He turned to Jim. "Captain, if you do not do something about this… _creature_, then I am bound by the laws of my race to take action."

"Wait just a second," Jim said, throwing up his hands in warning as the two Andorians rose angrily. "Before you two start taking action against each other, let's talk about this like civilized people."

"Are you saying that the Andorians are an uncivilized race?" the ambassador asked, his voice chilly.

"No," Jim said. "But if you do not sit down, Ambassador, then I will be forced to bring my security team in here and put you in the brig until you are ready to calm down and be reasonable about this. That goes for you as well," he added to the other Andorian.

Both Andorians glared at each other for a moment. The ambassador sighed and looked away first, sitting down with a mutinous look on his face. The other Andorian sat down as well under Jim's fierce glare.

"Now, gentlemen," Jim said. "What we have here is a misunderstanding. Ambassador, I know for a fact that this man is an Andorian. Your doctors were required to conduct physicals on all of the citizens coming onboard the _Enterprise_ for this mission, as required by Starfleet protocol. Wouldn't it have been mentioned in the reports that this Andorian wasn't an Andorian?"

It was clear that the Andorian ambassador wanted to say otherwise, but he could not without risk of insulting Starfleet, Jim, and the Andorian doctors.

"Yes, Captain, that would have been mentioned," the Andorian ambassador said after a few moments' pause. "But I still do not believe this man is an Andorian."

"Well, until you come up with reasons other than the language barrier, then I suggest you both stay as far away from each other as possible for the duration of your stay onboard the _Enterprise_," Jim said. "Ambassador, you may stay in your assigned quarters. You, on the other hand," he said to the other Andorian, "I will have my housing staff find new quarters for you immediately. Lieutenant Giotto will supervise you until you are ready to be moved into your own quarters. Now, gentlemen, if you will excuse me, I have matters of my own that need to be attended to. I do not want to hear about another fight. You are representatives of your race. Please act as such."

He felt a sense of satisfaction as both older Andorians looked highly disgruntled about being told off by Starfleet's youngest Captain.

Jim rose from the table and exited the room. He paused briefly to speak to Lieutenant Giotto about his orders before heading for sick bay.

* * *

Jim arrived in sick bay to find Doctor McCoy cussing out some form of medical technology and Spock looking graver than Jim had ever seen him.

"What happened?" Jim asked quietly, glancing at Sarek. The older Vulcan looked extremely pale, his brown eyes full of pain.

"I went to my father's quarters to speak to him about the events with Gav," Spock said. "He appeared to have difficulty breathing. I called Doctor McCoy immediately."

"He had a heart attack," Doctor McCoy said.

"Is he going to live?" Jim asked, feeling a wave of alarm crash over him. Spock had already lost one parent. Was the universe really cruel enough to steal his other?

"He needs surgery," Doctor McCoy said gruffly. "And I don't have enough Vulcan blood of any type to keep him alive through it."

"Are any of the other Vulcans compatible?" Jim asked.

"There are none," Spock said quietly.

"How do you know?" Doctor McCoy demanded. "Does your logical mind automatically compute everyone's damn blood type now?"

"No," Spock said, not even bothering to point out how illogical that was. "I am Sarek's son and therefore know his blood type. He has an extremely rare one, one that I alone share with him."

"Then couldn't you donate the necessary blood?" Jim asked.

"It would be too risky, Jim," Doctor McCoy said. "With Spock's human mother, it makes his blood nearly impossible to use for the transfusion."

"Nearly?" Jim echoed. "Does that mean there is a way?"

"It's too risky," Doctor McCoy said stubbornly.

"On the contrary, Doctor, it is quite safe," Spock replied. "We have all of the necessary supplies to make my blood fully compatible to my father's."

"It has never been done before! How the hell do you know whether it's risky or not if it has never been done before?" Doctor McCoy demanded.

"Spock?" Jim questioned.

"It is what has to be done," Spock said seriously. "I would not suggest it if I knew of any other way to save my father's life."

"What exactly is this risky idea?" Jim wanted to know.

"My blood will be pumped out of my body and filtered through a machine," Spock said. "The machine will separate the copper components from the iron components. The iron will be discarded and the copper will be given to my father."

"That doesn't sound too bad," Jim said. "What exactly is the risk?"

"The fact that machine has never been tested for one," Doctor McCoy growled. "And even if it does work, Spock here will lose a dangerous amount of blood, even with how fast Vulcans heal. No one could regenerate that amount of blood quickly."

"Aren't there medications that help with that?" Jim asked.

"Yes," Doctor McCoy said grudgingly. "But combined with the medication needed to make the separating of blood components possible and Spock's wacked physiology, the results could be deadly."

"Thank you, Doctor, for that vivid description of my anatomy," Spock said dryly.

"Bones, you are the best doctor Starfleet has ever seen," Jim said, smiling despite the circumstances. "I'm a testament to that. If Spock believes that this is the only way to save Sarek, then I trust you will not make any mistakes."

Silence met his words. Spock stared at him with an expression of slight gratitude. Doctor McCoy glared at him.

"If either one of them dies, then I'm blaming you," he growled. "Now both of you get out of here so Chapel and I can get ready for this."

"I will be on the bridge," Spock said, leaving the sick bay.

Jim stayed behind.

"Thanks, Bones," he said quietly. "For everything."

"I'm serious about this being extremely risky," Doctor McCoy said with a glare.

"And I'm serious about you being the best damned doctor in Starfleet," Jim retorted. "Both Spock and Sarek will pull through this. You'll see."

"You better be right about this," Doctor McCoy said. He sighed. "Is this really worth it?"

"If it were Joanna in that hospital bed, would you be asking that?" Jim countered.

Doctor McCoy was quiet.

"I don't like this," he said. "It's dangerous."

"We're in space, Bones," Jim said with a slight smile. "Everything is dangerous here."


	4. Journey to Babel Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I only own a DVD copy of the movie, the first season of _TOS_, a couple of collector's edition DVD sets of _TOS_, _Wrath of Khan_, and two glasses with Spock/Jim on them from Burger King. I do not own anything else. Though man, I wish I did.**

**Author's Note 1: Originally, I scheduled this story to be updated solely on Thursdays. Special bonus points and a cookie if you can figure that one out. But due to recent plot tribbles invading the planet I like to call my mind, this story will be updated randomly, sporadically, and probably extremely often until the end of November. This is because of a contest called NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) where you have to write 100,000 words in the month of November for one story. I'm using this story, obviously. Currently, it has about eleven thousand words. Yeah. I'm that awesome. I only need... 89,000 more! :) So we'll probably get through the remainder of this arc and probably through the second arc in this month. After that, expect somewhat slower updates. That, and after the second arc, the chapters are probably going to become longer and more angsty. Be warned. **

**Author's Note 2: There are some MAJOR artistic liberties taken in this chapter. And... this isn't exactly how it all went down on _Journey to Babel_, so... yeah. Like I said, artistic liberties have been taken.**

**And without further ado:**

**

* * *

**

The Voyages of the _USS Enterprise_

**Arc 1**_: The Journey to Babel_

**Summary of arc:** For it's first mission, the _Enterprise_ is assigned to see foreign ambassadors of different planets to Babel, a neutral planet in the middle of the solar system. What should be an easy mission goes drastically wrong as the ambassadors decide they don't like each other, a murder occurs, and the _Enterprise_is nearly destroyed by an enemy ship.

**

* * *

**

Chapter 4: A Deadly Combination

Spock was sitting at his station with Uhura hovering behind him when Jim walked out of the turbo lift and onto the bridge. She looked up at the sound his entrance, her face pale with both shock and concern. Her face tightened into an unreadable mask and she moved back to her station as Jim approached.

"Spock," he began.

"Captain, I can predict what you are about to say," Spock said. "And I have to tell you that it is highly unnecessary. I understand the risks, perhaps better than you do. However, it will not deter me from going through with this."

"I understand," Jim said. "And I wasn't going to tell you otherwise. I was just going to say that if you need to meditate to prepare for this, I can handle everything here."

Spock looked at him and nodded once.

"Thank you, Captain," he said. "But I wish to remain here until Doctor McCoy is prepared to start the surgery."

"All right, then," Jim said. "Com me if there's any problems. I'll be in my quarters."

"Vait a second, Keptin," Chekov said as one of the screens on the counsel lit up.

"What is it, Chekov?" Jim asked, quickly walking over. Spock and Uhura joined him.

"There is a transmission coming from inside the ship," Chekov said. "It looks as though someone is trying to contact the other ship!"

"Uhura," Jim said, turning toward the communications officer, only to find her already at her station trying to decode the message.

"It's encrypted," she reported. "I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to decode it."

"Spock, try to help her. Sulu, you and Chekov keep an eye on the ship's progress. If it gets closer, let me know," Jim ordered. "Put the crew on yellow alert, but don't let any of our passengers know. I don't want to cause unnecessary alarm."

His orders were received with a chorus of "yessirs". Jim smiled slightly before turning and exiting the bridge.

* * *

Jim stepped off the turbo lift into the welcome silence of the housing deck. Nearly everyone was asleep or at their stations because of the alert. Jim was relieved not to have to be pleasant to anyone—his chest was starting to hurt again and a dull throb had taken up residency in the back of his head due to all of the excitement. He wanted nothing more than a hot sonic shower and at least four hours of sleep.

He had just made it to his cabin when his com started to beep.

With a groan of exasperation, Jim walked over to the intercom and pushed the button.

"Kirk here," he said.

"_Jim, you better get down to sick bay,_" McCoy said. "_It's about Spock's father. His heart attack wasn't just a heart attack._"

"What do you mean?" Jim demanded.

"_I've found evidence that suggests that he was poisoned,"_ McCoy said. "_It could have something to do with the dead Tellarite on our hands. Thought you might like to come check it out._"

"I'm on my way," Jim said immediately.

Jim sighed as he slumped against the turbo lift. He really wanted nothing more than for this whole mission to be over already so he could catch up on his sleep.

The doors slid open, admitting him to sick bay. Outside of a low beeping sound coming from Sarek's bed, the room was silent.

Jim walked to Doctor McCoy's office, feeling a pit growing inside of his stomach. Two ambassadors poisoned within hours of each other. He wondered if maybe Chekov was right after all, if maybe the unknown ship was the cause of the poisonings.

He didn't bother knocking on McCoy's door, knowing that his friend was expecting him. He entered the dimly lit office and was surprised to find Doctor McCoy and Nurse Chapel sitting in front of a computer, conversing in low tones. They both looked up at the sound of Jim's cough.

"Am I interrupting something?" he asked.

Chapel blushed and shook her head. She stood up.

"I'll be with Sarek if you need anything," she said to McCoy before walking out of the office. She barely glanced at Jim, which was probably a good thing. He had _that_ smirk on his face.

"So," Jim said as he took Chapel's recently vacated chair. "You and Chapel, huh?"

"Shut up," McCoy said, rolling his eyes. "Things aren't always what they look like."

"Speaking of which, what's this about Sarek's heart attack being caused by poison?" Jim wanted to know.

"I was doing some routine tests to prepare Sarek for the surgery when I started thinking about how strange it was for Vulcans to have heart attacks," Doctor McCoy said. "Their hearts aren't in the same place ours are—theirs are where our livers are. It's actually better for circulation, which is why I found it strange."

"I paid attention in xenobiology," Jim said with some exasperation.

"That's a miracle," Doctor McCoy muttered. "Anyway, I did some research after I finished prepping Sarek for surgery. Outside of having a rare genetic disorder, which he does not have—I checked—the only other known cause of Vulcan heart attacks is a very little known poison."

"Huh," Jim said, studying the screen. "That's interesting. Two poisonings in one night."

"I don't think it's a coincidence. Especially with that ship parked right outside our sensors," Doctor McCoy said.

"Neither do I," Jim admitted. "I'll alert security. But if whoever is doing this is passing it through the food, then it's going to be hard to find out who exactly is doing this."

"I'll have Chapel and some of the other nurses check in on the other ambassadors," McCoy said.

"The Andorians are fine," Jim said. "Unless there's some sort of poison that causes them to be extremely hostile toward each other and then nearly come to blows over it, they're fine. I had to play baby sitter to make sure they didn't kill themselves."

"Now you know what my job is like," Doctor McCoy said.

Jim rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, whatever," he said. "I know for a fact that I'm not that bad."

"You're right," Doctor McCoy said. "You're worse. Speaking of you, how're you feeling, anyway?"

"Aw, Bones, don't you have enough patients to worry about without adding me to that list?" Jim asked. "I'm fine."

"Really?" Doctor McCoy asked, raising an eyebrow. Jim was really beginning to hate that expression. He wondered what McCoy and Spock would do if he shaved off their eyebrows.

"Yeah, sure," Jim lied, waving it off. "Just tired, that's all."

"Then go to bed, you moron," Doctor McCoy growled.

"Can't," Jim said. "Enemy ship on the horizon, murderers on the loose, people trying to poison each other, first officer getting ready for surgery… no rest for the good-hearted!"

"One, it's no rest for the _wicked_, you idiot," Doctor McCoy said. "Two, if I have to, I can declare you unfit for duty. And three—." He was cut off when the intercom beeped.

"McCoy here."

"_Is Captain Kirk there?_" Sulu sounded anxious.

Doctor McCoy and Jim exchanged a glance. Doctor McCoy looked exasperated. Jim felt relieved and slightly triumphant.

"Kirk here."

"_Captain, the ship is closing in on us, but it seems to have some sort cloaking device on it that keeps us from being able to scan it,_" Sulu reported.

"What does Spock think about this?"

"_He told us to com you,_" Sulu answered.

"Call Mr. Scott and see what he can do," Jim ordered. "He probably knows some way or another to get pass the cloaking device. It's probably illegal, but I'll fill out the necessary paperwork. I'll be on the bridge as soon as I can. Kirk out."

"Jim," McCoy began as the Captain stood up to leave.

"I'm fine, Bones," Jim said without turning around. "If I weren't, then you would know about it."

"Yeah, right," McCoy muttered.

Jim didn't reply as he strode through the door.

* * *

Jim made it to the bridge in record time. Scotty was already there, talking with Spock with violent hand gestures.

"But there is nothing we can do," Scotty concluded as Jim walked over. "Not without blowing ourselves up."

"That would probably be really bad for everyone onboard," Jim said, taking his seat. He tried not to look too relieved to be sitting down. But by the looks on Scotty, Spock, and Uhura's faces, he didn't really have anyone convinced.

"Sir, I know we requested your presence here, but shouldn't you be unconscious in your bunk?" Uhura asked.

"Is that an invitation?" Jim joked weakly. He ignored the glare he received from his communications' officer. "What's going on, gentlemen?"

"Mr. Scott was unable to devise a way to get us pass the cloaking devices onboard the unknown vessel," Spock said.

Jim sensed a sudden increase of tension from everyone onboard the _Enterprise_. He knew that it was probably due to the intense way Spock kept glaring at everyone, which was due to the fact that despite popular belief, Vulcans _did_ experience emotion. And Spock whether he admitted it or not was worried about his father.

Jim attempted to keep that in mind as he relayed his next orders.

"Chekov, keep trying to scan the other ship. Try to get a rough estimate of the size of it and figure out how much power it has," he said. "Sulu, cut down on our speed gradually. Scotty, you and your engineering team, dim the lights onboard the _Enterprise_, everywhere except for the housing decks. I don't want our ambassadors to worry. Uhura, start broadcasting static and halting communications on every available wave except for the ones to Starfleet and private communications."

"You want to make it look like we're running out of power," Uhura said, looking mildly impressed.

"You're going to bait them!" Scotty said, a look of absolute awe on his face. "You want to make them lower their guard."

"Exactly," Jim said. He turned to his first officer, who, per usual, was standing silently and stoically off to his right. "Mr. Spock, you have the conn. Call me in my quarters if there are any disturbances."

* * *

Jim yawned and stretched with exhaustion as he headed for his quarters. As much as he wanted to stay on the bridge during the current crisis, he knew that if he didn't get some sleep soon, he was going to pass out on the bridge. And that wouldn't do anyone any good.

He made it halfway down the corridor when something tall, blue, and fast slammed into him. Jim hit the floor with a grunt, pain and adrenaline shooting through him as he landed face first onto the steely ground. He immediately rolled back onto his feet, refusing to let his attacker get the drop on him again.

His attacker was Andorian in appearance, with the same pale blue skin and antennae as the ambassador Jim had seen earlier. But the eyes—which were usually brown and oval—were dark green and slanted. He felt a wave of shock crash over him as he recognized the man. It was the Andorian whom the Ambassador was fighting with earlier that day. But Jim could have sworn the man's eyes were brown earlier.

"Who are you?" he demanded. "What do you want?"

He didn't truly expect a response and honestly wasn't that surprised when the alien grinned and pulled out a wicked looking knife.

"This night keeps getting better and better," Jim muttered as the alien lunged at him. He barely had the chance to duck out of the way and regain his balance when the alien attacked him again.

Jim landed a few punches of his own before the alien darted away, still wielding the knife. Jim didn't give the creature a chance to recover. He lunged forward and tackled the alien like a quarterback, wrestling the thing to the ground, struggling to get the knife out of the other's strong grasp.

"You and yours will be destroyed," the alien rasped as it simultaneously yanked itself out of Jim's grasp and shoved him away. It picked up the knife before Jim had the chance to recover. "You will be the first to die."

Jim gasped as cold steel entered his side, leaving a blazing trail of pain in its path.

"And so ends the story of the great Captain Kirk," the alien chuckled, yanking the knife out of Jim's side.

"I'm taking you down with me," Jim growled, clutching at his side with one hand and decking the alien with the other. The blue creature crumpled to the ground, unconscious.

Jim staggered over to the nearest intercom and punched the button for the bridge, leaning heavily against the wall and trying to get his legs to stop shaking.

"_Spock here._"

"Spock," Jim whispered into the com. "Get s-security to de-deck nine. Call B-B-Bones…"

He trailed off, unable to finish his sentence. Dark spots swarmed his vision. He was vaguely aware of Spock calling his name, but could not respond. He slid down the wall and sank into unconsciousness.


	5. Journey to Babel Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own _Star Trek_, even despite my attempts to hijack the transporters and beam onboard the _Enterprise_. Sigh. **

**Author's Note 1: This is going to be the first of many chapters to come of Doctor McCoy's point of view. This is going to be one of the only ones in this particular arc... but it definitely will not be the last for this story.**

**Author's Note 2: I really do not like writing from Doctor McCoy's point of view... so I don't know how well this turned out. You'll have to review and tell me if I should attempt to do this in future arcs. **

**Author's Note 3: Okay... so for the question in the last chapter about the relationship between Thursdays and this story... congratulations to Lori Jean for getting it right! The Original Series aired on Thursday nights... hence the reason why I wanted to update on Thursdays. **

**So, without further ado:**

* * *

**The Voyages of the _USS Enterprise_**

**Arc 1: **_The Journey to Babel_

**Summary of arc: **For it's first mission, the _Enterprise_ is assigned to see foreign ambassadors of different planets to Babel, a neutral planet in the middle of the solar system. What should be an easy mission goes drastically wrong as the ambassadors decide they don't like each other, a murder occurs, and the _Enterprise_ is nearly destroyed by an enemy ship.

**

* * *

**

Chapter 5: Late Night House Calls

Doctor McCoy stared at the computer screen through bleary eyes, wondering when exactly Chapel was going to be ready to begin the surgery on Sarek. He had half a mind to tell her to hurry up and get her ass back down to sick bay, but he knew that she was going over the last minute details in the lab to make sure the medication they were going to be giving Spock wouldn't have any serious side effects. He commended the effort—this would already be a tricky enough operation without the _Enterprise's_ first officer dying halfway through the procedure—but something about this entire mess was fishy. Two ambassadors poisoned, one dead and another one suffering a massive heart attack. Who knew how many other ambassadors could be suffering and no one knew it? And then there was the question of _why_. Who would have anything to gain by killing the Vulcan and the Tellarite ambassador?

Doctor McCoy could understand murdering the Tellarite ambassador. From a human perspective, Gav's argument with Sarek earlier at the party gave the Vulcan motive as well as opportunity, seeing as Gav's body was found near the Vulcan quarters. But why attempt to kill the Vulcan ambassador after that?

Before Doctor McCoy had the chance to really come up with answer to his thoughts, his intercom beeped.

"McCoy here," he said.

"_It's Chapel,_" said the nurse. "_The medication rendering is complete. It will be completely safe to use."_

"Thank you," he said. "I'll tell Spock. McCoy out."

He was about to call up to the bridge to tell Spock that he was ready to begin his father's surgery when his intercom beeped.

"McCoy here."

"_Doctor McCoy, your assistance is needed on deck 9,_" Spock's voice was cool and collected, per usual. "_The Captain has been injured._"

"I'll be right there," Doctor McCoy replied, grabbing for his medikit and tricorder. It wouldn't be enough if Jim had been injured to the usual Kirkian standards, but it would at least keep the idiot Captain from dying until McCoy could get him to sick bay.

* * *

Doctor McCoy stepped off the turbo lift, sighing when he saw Giotto, Spock, Ensign Proud from security, and some random, unconscious Andorian in a circle around Jim. The younger man was unconscious, surrounded by a pool of blood.

"Shit," McCoy muttered as he pushed Giotto and the ensign out of the way. "What did this?"

"We think it was him," Giotto reported, pointing angrily to the Andorian behind them. "He had a knife in his hand that was covered in blood."

"Joy," McCoy said. "That's just freaking awesome. You might as well get him down to the brig. I'll take care of the Captain."

There was a hesitance in the group surrounding McCoy. The doctor picked up on it and understood—no one wanted to lose Jim.

"Listen, Giotto," McCoy said. "I'll do my best to save him. But I need the room to work. Now please, get that man down to the brig while I work on saving the Captain's life."

Giotto looked to Spock, who nodded his head once. With a sigh, Giotto signaled to Ensign Proud. They picked up the offending Andorian and dragged him to the turbo lift.

Doctor McCoy turned back to Jim, ignoring Spock's hovering form. He had other things to worry about.

He ran the tricorder over Jim's still form, trying _not_ to think about how abnormal this was for his friend. Jim was always a man of action, never once sitting still. Even in his sleep, Jim was constantly fighting battles in his dreams, or so it seemed to McCoy, who had shared a room with Jim for more than three years.

"What is the prognosis, Doctor?" Spock asked.

"Not good," Doctor McCoy said grimly. "Can you help me get him to sick bay?"

"Would it be more logical to call for a stretcher?" Spock asked.

"Damn it, Spock, there's no time. I have to get him to sick bay and operate immediately, or he is going to _die_," Doctor McCoy exploded. "Or does that not compute with your thrice damned logic?"

"I was merely pointing out the risk of moving him," Spock said, dipping his head.

Doctor McCoy sighed, feeling slightly guilty for snapping at Spock. The man had enough to deal with without McCoy adding his emotional tirades to the list.

"Well, I'm the one with the medical degree," Doctor McCoy said. "And I say it's more than worth the risk to move him. Now let's go."

* * *

Doctor McCoy rubbed his eyes as he checked the monitor once more, making sure that his idiot of a best friend was truly alive. It was once again way too close. If Spock and that annoying Lieutenant Giotto hadn't found Jim in time, then the _Enterprise_ would have been without her Captain. Even still, it had been touch and go—the knife had hit Jim's spleen, causing two hours of painstaking surgery to remove the spleen and repair the damage. Jim was still unconscious due to the anesthetic, but the prognosis looked good.

"You damn idiot," Doctor McCoy whispered. "One of these days, I'm not going to be there to save you."

He didn't expect a response and wasn't surprised when he didn't get one. Still, it hurt to see his best friend in that bed, so still and silent. Jim was always in motion, even when he was asleep.

"Doctor McCoy?"

At the sound of Spock's voice, McCoy turned around.

"What, Mr. Spock?" he asked.

"I have decided that I am unable to do the blood transfusion at this time," Spock said. "With the Captain incapacitated, it would be illogical and selfish of me to weaken myself at this time."

"Engineer Scott will be able to command the ship in your absence," Doctor McCoy said. "He has done this before."

"While the Captain and I were on a simple away mission," Spock pointed out. "Not with foreign diplomats onboard, a murderer loose, and an enemy ship just outside of our sensor ranges."

"I agree, it is the most unusual circumstances that have occurred while both you and Jim were onboard," McCoy replied. "But your father is getting worse, Spock. He doesn't have the time to wait for the _Enterprise_ to be fully safe again."

"I understand," Spock said. "But I cannot put the good of one man above the good of four hundred others. It is the regulations of Starfleet that I command the ship during this perilous time."

"Jim wouldn't want you to do this," Doctor McCoy said. "In fact, I'm pretty sure he would order you to save your father."

"If the Captain was well enough to give such an order, then I would heed it," Spock said. "As it is, that is the very reason why I cannot save my father's life."

"Spock, you have already lost your mother," Doctor McCoy said gently. "Do you really want to lose your father as well?"

"I do not want anything," Spock replied. "I must do what is necessary for the good of the ship."

With that, he turned and left.

"Damn green blooded hobgoblin," McCoy growled.


	6. Journey to Babel Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own _Star Trek_, even despite my attempts to hijack the transporters and beam onboard the _Enterprise_. Sigh. **

**Author's Note 1: The first part of this chapter was unexpected. I never really actually planned to write anything from Uhura's point of view in this story, mostly because I don't really know how to write her. However, this morning I went back and watched _Journey to Babel, _especially that one scene where Amanda tells Spock that he's being an idiot (in a more subtle, roundabout way). I decided I needed to have that scene in here. **

**Author's Note 2: There will be a lot of action coming up in the next couple of chapters... so hope you all are ready! And more hurtJim! Yay! Reasons to celebrate and review! :) **

**Author's Note 3: About the NaNoWriMo thing... I lied. It's 50,000 not 100,000 words. Oh well. Not that it will really have any impact on this story...**

**Author's Note 4: Uhura may seem really really mean and cruel and totally out of character in this chapter... but she was doing it to prove a point. She doesn't really mean what she says. And she will apologize at a later date. If I remember.**

**Author's Note 5: Yeah. I'm that awesome. 2 chapters in a day. I know, I know. I rock. It's okay. :) Oh, and by the way, there are only like... 3 or so chapters left in this arc. And like... 12 more arcs to do, so don't be too upset.**

**So, without further ado:**

* * *

**The Voyages of the _USS Enterprise_**

**Arc 1: **_The Journey to Babel_

**Summary of arc: **For it's first mission, the _Enterprise_ is assigned to see foreign ambassadors of different planets to Babel, a neutral planet in the middle of the solar system. What should be an easy mission goes drastically wrong as the ambassadors decide they don't like each other, a murder occurs, and the _Enterprise_ is nearly destroyed by an enemy ship.

**

* * *

**

Chapter 6: It's Always A Good Night for Fighting

Uhura glared at her communications screen, willing it to somehow figure out an answer to all of the problems. She barely heard the turbo lift doors opening behind her.

"Lieutenant Uhura, report."

She jumped, not expecting Spock's soft voice directly behind her or anywhere near the bridge. Shouldn't he have been in sick bay, making sure that both the Captain and his father were all right?

"Still nothing from the ship," she replied. She turned around to face him, feeling her heart break at the look on Spock's face. Though to any casual observer he would have looked as stoic and as reserved as usual, to Uhura it looked as though he had just suffered through the destruction of Vulcan a hundred more times.

"How's the Captain?" she asked, wanting to ask so many different questions, but instead asking the only thing she knew Spock would readily talk about.

"He required emergency surgery," Spock said. "Though Doctor McCoy seemed hopeful."

"Good," Uhura said, nodding. "And how are you?"

Spock raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"I do not understand your question," he said. "I have suffered no injuries this evening. Your inquiry into my well being is therefore illogical."

Uhura sighed.

"Spock, I speak to you not as an officer, but as your friend. Your father is ill and he could die. Your Captain was nearly killed," she said. "When I ask how are you, I mean how are you handling all of this?"

"I am a Vulcan," Spock said. "My emotions are controlled. I have no need to talk about my feelings."

Had it been anyone else, Uhura probably would have felt offended. However, she knew that he did not mean it as an insult. It was just who he was.

"Is your father going to be okay without the surgery?" she asked.

"Doctor McCoy does not think so," Spock said. He turned away from her so she could not read his face.

"Spock," she said, reaching out and touching his arm gently. She expected him to pull away and was not surprised when he did.

"Lieutenant Uhura," he said stiffly. "Sarek's well-being cannot and will not be placed in front of the good of the _Enterprise_. Starfleet commands that if in a crisis situation the Captain of a starship is injured, the First Officer must take his place if he is able. As I am able, I must lead the _Enterprise_ or else, I will be committing mutiny."

"Spock, your father is going to _die_ if you follow Starfleet regulations," Uhura said.

"I am well aware of the risks, Lieutenant," Spock said coldly. "But I am bound by my duty as a Starfleet officer to command the _Enterprise_. And I am equally as bound by my Vulcan nature not to disregard rules and regulations. It would cause disorder and such disorder in the time of a crisis would be illogical."

"What would your mother want you to do?" Uhura challenged. She knew that it was a cruel thing to ask—Spock had never gotten over his mother's death—but she couldn't help herself. Spock had to know what he was doing was wrong. So what if Starfleet wanted him to command the _Enterprise_? He could lose his father, the one parent he had left in this universe.

"What she would want doesn't matter," Spock said. By the look on his face, Uhura knew that she had crossed some sort of invisible line.

"Spock," she began.

"Lieutenant, you are one of the best communications officers in Starfleet. I suggest that you start paying more attention to your station and less to those around you," Spock said in a hard voice. He turned on his heel and strode over to the captain's chair.

"Fine," Uhura snapped. "Sit there and deal with your damned logic. I'm sick of it. If you're going to let your father die because of some stupid rule, then fine. But you'll have no one to blame but yourself."

* * *

Jim woke with a start to the sounds of phaser fire, klaxon alarms, and a rocking ship.

"Whazzgunnon?" he demanded, trying to sit up and failing admirably as the pain in his side reached alarming levels. Another alarm started going off and Doctor McCoy came running in, looking pissed off.

"Jim, what the hell do you think you're doing?" he shouted.

"What're you doing to m'ship Bones?" Jim asked groggily. "Why's she shaking?"

"That damn ship that's been trailing us since we left New Vulcan decided to fire on us," Doctor McCoy explained. "Spock's up on the bridge trying to keep the ship from going kablewie."

"Is his dad okay?"

"No."

"Then why the hell isn't he down here giving his father that damn blood?"

"I don't know. Maybe because you were stabbed and someone had to keep the damn ship afloat?" Doctor McCoy demanded in exasperation.

"I—what?" Jim asked, his head feeling way too full of cotton to understand half of what his friend was saying.

"You were stabbed four hours ago," McCoy said, looking fed up with the world. "Spock decided that it would be better for everyone if he commanded the ship while you were off duty. His father is growing worse. Enemies are attacking us. Scotty is trying to do something with the engines to keep us from blowing up."

"Oh," Jim said stupidly. He blinked, trying to clear his mind. "Well then, you'll just have to declare me fit for duty until you can save Spock's father and the ship is out of danger."

"Out of the question," Doctor McCoy said immediately.

"Bones," Jim protested.

"Jim, if Spock and Lieutenant Giotto hadn't found you when they did, you would be _dead_," McCoy said forcefully. "You lost way too much blood. You just had your damn spleen removed. You're not strong enough to fight paperwork, let alone whoever the hell is attacking us and command a ship and keep those damned dignitaries in line."

"Bones," Jim said in his best _I'm-the-Captain-and-you're-going-to-do-what-I-say-whether-you-like-it-or-not_ voice. "Do you know what the entire Vulcan population number is?"

"Do you know how much I don't care at this point in time?" McCoy retorted.

"It is two billion, three hundred fifty two," Jim said promptly. More gently, he added, "Spock has already lost his mother. Don't make him lose his father on top of this. Not when we both know that I can handle this."

"You _can't_," McCoy exploded. "You were just stabbed for god's sake. You are not in any shape to be blowing up ships or giving orders or doing anything other than resting!"

"Your faith in me is inspiring," Jim said dryly. He forced himself into a sitting position, successfully keeping the grimace of pain off his face and warding off McCoy's attempt to keep him from doing so.

"Jim," McCoy began.

"Look," Jim said, interrupting what was no doubt another inspiring and heart warming round of _you were just stabbed_. "I've been hurt far worse and have done far more during that time than right now. You're just going to have to trust me when I say that I can do this. I have to do this. You know as well as I do Spock won't listen to anyone else but me when he gets like this. And you know as well as I do that Sarek has to pull through this. And if it makes you feel better, the second Spock believes I'm okay and is off the bridge, I'll call in Scotty and have him take over."

McCoy glared at Jim, scowling heavily as he growled, "Yeah, sure you will." He sighed. "I don't like it, but it's the only option we've got. Sarek has to live. But if you get yourself hurt again, I swear, I'm sedating you for the next five years."

"Thanks, Bones," Jim said quietly. "I'll try to be careful."

"Yeah, yeah, just don't get yourself killed trying to save the world, all right?" McCoy said. "C'mon. I'll help you to the bridge."


	7. Journey to Babel Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own _Star Trek_, even despite my attempts to hijack the transporters and beam onboard the _Enterprise_. Sigh. **

**Author's Note 1: Okay. I will admit to watching _way_ too much _M*A*S*H_ before writing this one particular chapter... with one particular scene at the end. Don't worry, you will never ever have to watch an episode of MASH to understand the scene... but if you have seen the TV show, then you'll understand what I mean. **

**Author's Note 2: Anyway... I'm on a serious roll with this story. I think I've updated this one more often then I've updated any other story in the span of ... a week? Hope you all are enjoying it. The updates _might_ slow down a little bit at the end of November... but seeing as it's barely ten days into November, I don't think you have to worry about that quite yet.**

**Author's Note 3: Pikeru's Angel, I just wanted to inform you that you have disabled your private messaging feature, which makes it very hard to respond to your awesome reviews. Just saying.**

**Author's Note 4: Expect two or three more chapters in this arc and a random interlude (more information will be coming soon) then we're off to Angelus IV (more details about _that _will be coming soon to an author's profile page near you). **

**So, without further ado:**

* * *

**The Voyages of the _USS Enterprise_**

**Arc 1: **_The Journey to Babel_

**Summary of arc: **For it's first mission, the _Enterprise_ is assigned to see foreign ambassadors of different planets to Babel, a neutral planet in the middle of the solar system. What should be an easy mission goes drastically wrong as the ambassadors decide they don't like each other, a murder occurs, and the _Enterprise_ is nearly destroyed by an enemy ship.

**

* * *

**

Chapter 7: Of Threats and Propositions

If Jim's side hadn't been killing him and if he wasn't trying so hard to keep this fact from Doctor McCoy, he might have laughed out loud at the sight of his first officer's look of utter surprise as Jim hobbled onto the bridge.

"Captain, although it is good to see that you are conscious, I do not think the bridge is the right place for you at this time," Spock said.

"I know. I was stabbed," Jim said, rolling his eyes. "But Doctor McCoy has declared me fit for duty."

Spock shot a raised eyebrow in Doctor McCoy's direction, who did his best to ignore it.

"I see," Spock said suspiciously.

"You are hereby ordered to report to sick bay to save Sarek's life," Jim said, clutching the arm of the captain's chair for support as an explosion rocked through the ship.

"Captain," Spock began.

"That was a direct order," Jim said. "Now go."

Spock's mouth tightened into an impossibly thin line before nodding once. He got up and strode off the bridge.

"Be careful," Doctor McCoy muttered to Jim. "You know as well as I do that you are not up to this."

"Save Sarek," Jim said, sitting in his chair. He tried not to sigh too loudly with relief.

McCoy grumbled something incoherent before following Spock off the bridge.

"Sulu, put the enemy ship onscreen. Prepare to fire photon torpedoes. Convert all unnecessary power to the engines and deflector shields. Alert Mr. Scott that his presence is needed on the bridge. Uhura, have you had any luck in contacting these people yet?" Jim asked.

"No, sir," Uhura responded. "They are ignoring all of our hailing frequencies."

"Keep trying. Chekov, report on the other ship," Jim ordered.

"They are fast, Keptin," Chekov said. "We cannot get a lock on them long enough to fire our torpedoes. They keep ewading us."

"How big is the ship?" Jim demanded.

"We're not sure yet," Sulu said.

"Why the hell not?"

"They are using a strong cloaking device," Chekov said. "It's impossible to get a scan on it."

"Speculation?"

"From the rate at which it is moving, I'd say it's very big," Sulu said. "It has to be to maintain that speed and still fire on us."

"Indeed," Jim muttered. "Get the prisoner from the brig up here. He is bound to know something about this."

"Sir, the communication frequencies are jammed! All of the ambassadors want to know what's going on," Uhura said. "I can't get through to security."

"Tell the ambassadors to figure it out themselves," Jim said. "I'll issue a formal notice when we aren't on the verge of being blown to bits. But clear the lines!"

Another explosion rattled the _Enterprise_. Jim swore as he was knocked out of his chair, blood seeping from the bandaged wound and beginning to stain his shirt.

"Captain," Sulu began, concern coloring his voice.

"I'm fine, Mr. Sulu," Jim said through clenched teeth. "Mr. Chekov, take over Spock's station, will you?"

"Aye, Captain," Chekov said, getting up immediately.

The doors to the turbo lift opened and security hauled in the Andorian prisoner. He was missing one of his antennae.

"Captain Kirk," the prisoner said with great disdain. "I see that you have recovered from our little chat."

Jim rolled his eyes, feeling faintly smug about the glares the prisoner received from his crew.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you," he said. "But today will not be the end of James Kirk."

"And I am sorry to disappoint _you_, Captain," the Andorian look-alike said. "I know what you want from me, but I will not give it."

"We'll see about that," Jim said with a faint smile. "Chekov, what's the status on the ship's weaponry?"

"As I told you before, sir, ve can't—vait," Chekov said, looking confused. "I can scan them! They have standard issue phasers!"

"Huh," Jim said, feeling confused. He longed to stand up and pace around the bridge—he always thought better on his feet—but figured his side would refuse to let that happen. "So this ship isn't as advanced as we think it is. That rules out any time warp possibilities."

The Andorian prisoner looked bemused, as if he couldn't figure out Jim's strange logic. Jim smiled again, the expression disappearing as another bolt of phaser fire rocked the _Enterprise_.

"Sir, we've lost shield two!" Sulu reported.

"Damage reports coming in from all decks," Uhura reported.

"All decks, damage crew, commence with repairs immediately," Jim said pressing the ship-wide intercom button.

"Your end will come, Captain," the Andorian prisoner said, looking pleased. "And I will gleefully watch your destruction."

* * *

Doctor McCoy swore as yet another explosion rocked through the ship. The surgery he was performing was difficult enough without a freaking war going on.

"Damn it, Jim, what the hell are you doing up there?" he shouted, even though he knew no one except for Chapel would hear him.

"Here are the mayo scissors you asked for," Chapel said, handing him the instrument. "The Captain will pull us through."

McCoy sighed.

"I know," he muttered. "I know. He's a damn genius."

Chapel smiled in response, handing him another surgical instrument.

"He managed to save us from Nero," she said. "I don't see how one small ship from our timeline is going to pose any problems to the great Captain Kirk."

"Have you ever been around Jim for any period of time?" Doctor McCoy growled as he activated another round of sterilization. He heard Spock stirring in the bed behind him.

"Must," Spock whispered. "Tell. Captain."

"Chapel, find out what he's babbling about," McCoy ordered. "And then sedate him. I can't have him coming around and _leaving_ during the middle of the operation. That will surely kill Sarek more than that damn ship or the heart attack."

"Yes, Doctor McCoy," she said. She disappeared from his line of sight for a few moments. Doctor McCoy heard the telltale hiss of a hypo being injected and then silence.

"He said that he has just realized something," Chapel reported as she walked back over to the surgery table. "And he had to tell the Captain immediately."

"Did he mention what that fact was?" Doctor McCoy asked as he carefully navigated his way around the Vulcan ambassador's heart, searching for the damage. He simultaneously cursed every known xenophysiology professor he ever had and every single Starfleet Academy hospital for never allowing him to oversee an operation on a Vulcan. He knew about as much about Vulcan physiology as he did about quantum mechanics.

"No, he forgot to mention that fact," Chapel said. "But I told him it would have to wait until Sarek was better."

"You're a good nurse, Chapel," Doctor McCoy said. "Maybe, when all this crap is over, we can have a nice quiet dinner someplace."

"Quiet dinner? Onboard the _Enterprise_?" Chapel asked, raising an eyebrow in amusement.

"Yeah, that is too much to hope for," McCoy growled. "Idiot starship captains and nosy gits of a command crew.

"Maybe on a shore leave," Chapel said with a smile.

"Maybe," McCoy conceded. "If we live through this, that is."

"I think the chances of that are pretty good with that idiot starship captain at the helm," Chapel said.

"Provided he doesn't kill himself," McCoy muttered darkly.

As if to prove the good doctor right, the lights went out.

"Damn it, Jim!"


	8. Journey to Babel Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: If I owned them... then I wouldn't share them. :)**

**Author's Note: I apologize for taking so long to get this chapter up. It's been done for about a week and a half now... I just haven't gotten the chance to upload it yet. So, I'm sorry. And I am in the process to responding to all of your reviews. It might take a little while, though.**

**Author's Note 2: The next chapter is already about halfway done... so it should be up soon.**

**I hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving! **

**

* * *

**

The Voyages of the _USS Enterprise_

**Arc 1: **_The Journey to Babel_

**Summary of arc: **For it's first mission, the _Enterprise_ is assigned to see foreign ambassadors of different planets to Babel, a neutral planet in the middle of the solar system. What should be an easy mission goes drastically wrong as the ambassadors decide they don't like each other, a murder occurs, and the _Enterprise_ is nearly destroyed by an enemy ship.

* * *

**Chapter 8: Good News**

Jim gripped the arm of the captain's chair, his knuckles turning white as he breathed through the pain. He heard the Andorian chuckle softly and glared at the offending man.

"What happened to your antenna anyway?" he growled.

"It broke off when he tried to escape the brig," Ensign Proud from security explained. "Inside was a communication device. We think that's how the ship knew when to start firing on us—they didn't want him revealing any of their secrets."

"Well done, Ensign," Jim said with a faint smile.

"Thank you, Captain," Ensign Proud said.

"Captain!" Chekov exclaimed. "We've finally gotten a good read on the ship! It's the size of an average transport ship!"

Before Jim had the chance to respond, another explosion rocked the ship. Alarms and communication frequencies started blaring.

"How the hell is a transporter ship doing so much damage to us?" Jim demanded as another explosion rocked through the _Enterprise_.

"I don't know!" Chekov answered, looking frustrated.

"They can't keep this up for long," Jim muttered, glaring at the opposing ship on the view screen. "Continue firing torpedoes. And where is Mr. Scott?"

"Engineering has suffered major damage," Uhura reported. "He says that he can't get away from the repairs to answer your and I quote, 'bloody questions'."

Jim sighed.

"All right," he said, wincing as he shifted his weight in his chair. The movement caused more blood to seep through the bandage. "Evasive maneuver 4!"

* * *

The telltale sound of a flat lining heart monitor made Doctor McCoy swear rather violently.

"Initiate the cardio stimulus sequence," he ordered.

"It's not working," Chapel said, her tone betraying little of her obvious tension.

"Well, then get the old portable one! And hurry! I haven't done this much only for him to give up on me now," Doctor McCoy barked.

He glared at the ceiling as another explosion tore through the ship.

"And I thought that genius kid had a solution to this damn torpedo thing!" he growled.

"He's working on it," Chapel said as she handed McCoy the cardio stimulus. "Have a little faith, Doctor."

McCoy breathed a sigh of relief as Sarek slowly began to respond to the stimulus.

"See? Things are already starting to go right," Chapel said with a smile.

"Yeah, well," Doctor McCoy trailed off as he saw something amidst the blood and heart muscle. "Huh. That's interesting."

"What?" Chapel asked, confused.

"I know who is responsible for the poisonings," he said.

* * *

The _Enterprise_ rocked heavily again as the alarms continued to blare incessantly. Jim felt a headache begin to throb in his temples as he once again called out orders.

"Sir!" Sulu exclaimed as the enemy ship suddenly slowed down. "I think the ship is beginning to lose power!"

"What?" Jim asked, his eyes widening in surprise.

"It's true, sir!" Chekov said excitedly. "They just had a thirty-two percent drop in their energy level readings!"

"Well, gentlemen, that's the first bit of good news I've had all night," Jim said. "Hold your fire. Uhura, open hailing frequencies to the ship again."

"Sir?" Uhura, Sulu, and Chekov questioned simultaneously.

"Give me a minute," Jim said with a slight smile.

Uhura, Chekov, and Sulu exchanged knowing looks as Jim turned to the prisoner. Underneath the blue skin, the man looked rather pale.

"Your ship is losing power," Jim said. "We are hailing them to let them know we will be willing to assist them."

"They will never accept assistance from you!" the prisoner said proudly. "We are a proud race! We will commit suicide before we admit defeat!"

"You have already been defeated," Jim said. "Now tell us why you were really here."

"Never!" the prisoner said. "Never! I have taken Sularian poison! I can already feel its effects running through my veins. You will get no answers out of me!"

"What is he talking about?" Jim demanded.

"I don't know," Ensign Proud said with a shrug. "We didn't see him do anything or eat anything."

There was a huge flash of light followed by an immense shockwave. Uhura gasped, Sulu jumped, Chekov let out a squeak of horror, and Jim swore as on the view screen, the enemy ship blew up.

"So long, Captain Kirk!" the prisoner said. "Good luck in the coming war! I am loathe to go when the promise of your defeat is so tangible! The war between our planets has just begun!"

"Someone get him down to sick bay immediately," Jim ordered as the prisoner collapsed.

Ensign Proud was instantly at the prisoner's side. He put a hand on the alien and withdrew it quickly in shock.

"He's dead, sir," the ensign said.

"Damn it," Jim growled, sighing heavily. "Well, get him down to sick bay anyway. Let McCoy do an autopsy on him, see who he really was. That's one mystery I want solved."


	9. Journey to Babel Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: If I owned them... then I wouldn't share them. :)**

**Author's Note: So... originally, I had a different ending planned for this... but, I ended up liking this one better. So, it's staying. **

**Author's Note 2: Don't hate me, but the next arc is going to be a crossover of sorts with JAG. You won't have to neccessarily watch JAG to understand what's going on, though, because I'll do my best to explain everything. **

**Author's Note 3: I lost count of how many references I made to the different _Star Trek _TOS** **episodes I made in here. Kudos to you if you can count them all... I know there's at least one. **

**Author's Note 4: So. This is the end of arc one. I hope you have enjoyed it thus far! Arc 2 is planned out and hopefully chapter one will be up very soon.**

**The next arc will be called Tomorrow is Yesterday. And yes, it will have some things from the original series episode, but for the most part, it's going to be completely different. So... don't get angry at me when I stray away from the original path. **

**Author's Note 5: Oh... and I randomly switch POVs about five paragraphs in... and didn't really feel like going back and changing it. So. Excuse the glaring error.**

**

* * *

**

The Voyages of the _USS Enterprise_

**Arc 1: **_The Journey to Babel_

**Summary of arc: **For it's first mission, the _Enterprise_ is assigned to see foreign ambassadors of different planets to Babel, a neutral planet in the middle of the solar system. What should be an easy mission goes drastically wrong as the ambassadors decide they don't like each other, a murder occurs, and the _Enterprise_ is nearly destroyed by an enemy ship.

* * *

**Chapter 9: Mission Accomplished**

Doctor McCoy began the dermal regenerator on Sarek's surgery scar, feeling immense relief as he felt the shaking of the ship ease. The lights began to flicker back into existence as Chapel put away the flashlights.

"See?" she said. "I told you that the Captain would pull us through."

McCoy smiled.

"I'm glad you were right, Nurse," he replied. "Now let's get these two comfortable. It's going to be a long night for them."

"Yes, Doctor," Chapel said. She turned slightly, smiling. "Your favorite patient is back."

Doctor McCoy turned to the doors, trying to decide whether to scowl or laugh at the sight of Jim leaning heavily on Lieutenant Giotto, blood staining his shirt.

"Damn it, Jim," he sighed.

"I saved the ship, Bones," Jim said with an exhausted smile. "And I brought you a present. Another dead body to do an autopsy on!"

"You're a good friend," McCoy said with a faint smile. "C'mon, let's get you into bed and I'll fix you up."

"You always do," Jim said, wrapping a shaking arm around McCoy's neck and leaning his full weight on the doctor. "You always do."

The two hobbled over to one of the empty beds, looking like contenders in a three-legged race. They had barely made it before Jim's legs gave out and he collapsed in an ungraceful heap onto the bed.

"Damn it, Jim," Doctor McCoy sighed. "Do you even know what it means to take it easy?"

"If I did, then you'd be out of business," Jim retorted, hissing in pain as he attempted to move. "Can I have some help?"

"Hold on a minute, you freaking energizer bunny," Doctor McCoy growled. "You need to get out of your shirt so I can redress your wound so you don't bleed to death."

"You know, Bones, I usually don't let people undress me until the second date," Jim said.

"Stuff it and I might be nice to you," Doctor McCoy said. "Can you lift your hands above your head?"

Jim shook his head tiredly, suddenly feeling every single bump and bruise that he had obtained over the past twenty-four hours. His head started throbbing again and his side was killing him.

"I figured out who was behind the poisonings," Doctor McCoy said conversationally as he picked up a pair of scissors. Jim didn't resist.

"It was the Orions, wasn't it?" he asked instead.

"How did you figure it out?" McCoy asked in surprise as he began cutting the material.

"I started thinking about who had the most to gain from Coridian not being in the Federation," Jim said, yawning. "There have been reports that Orions have had an influx of dililthium crystals to trade. The Orion home planet doesn't have deposits of the crystals, so I knew they had to be stealing from someone else. And they have been among some of the only ones that have spoken against the Coridians joining the Federation. The Orions have some of the most advanced plastic surgeons in the Federation, so that explains the successful Andorian disguise."

"But why would they not want the Coridians to join the Federation?" Doctor McCoy asked as he finally got the shirt off.

"Well, if the Coridians joined the Federation, then the Orions would be forced to stop their theft of the dilithium crystals," Jim said, swearing when Doctor McCoy prodded the bloody wound in his side.

"Sorry," McCoy said hastily. "You tore your stitches, you idiot."

"I know that," Jim snapped.

"So, the Orions surgically transformed one of their own to act as a spy on the _Enterprise_ during the mission and kill the ambassadors," Doctor McCoy said, grabbing his suturing kit and a skin grafter. "That makes sense. The poisons I found were Orion in nature. I'm sure when I conduct the autopsy on the not-Andorian, he'll be the Orion spy."

"Aren't I allergic to that?" Jim asked, pointing to the grafter.

"You'll survive this time," Doctor McCoy said.

Jim wasn't convinced.

"If I die, I'm coming back and haunting you," he said.

"If you do die, then it's going to be because of blood loss," Doctor McCoy said. "I have to close the wound before that happens."

"If you say so," Jim said, wincing again when he attempted to push himself into a different position.

"Stay still," Doctor McCoy ordered. "This will be over in a second."

"How're Spock and his father?" Jim asked as the machine began to do its job. His side felt pleasantly numb as the skin began to close.

"They'll survive," Doctor McCoy said. "Spock is fine. He should be able to go back to light duty tomorrow. Sarek will be fine by the time we get to Babel, so long as he doesn't try to overdo it."

"Good," Jim said, his eyes starting to drift shut. He forced them back open, only to have them close again.

"Get some sleep, Jim," Doctor McCoy said. "Scotty can handle whatever happens next."

"Have to tell the ambassadors what's going on," Jim mumbled, not wanting to move. The sick bay bed was extremely comfortable. And warm, which was good, because he was suddenly freezing.

"They can wait," Doctor McCoy said. The disdain was plain in his voice.

"S'not their fault their idiots," Jim murmured.

"Yeah, well," Doctor McCoy said. "They're spoiled, pompous idiots that think the galaxy revolves around them."

"That is stupid," Jim said with a tired smile. "It totally revolves around me."

He was distantly aware of Doctor McCoy saying something before he drifted off into a much needed sleep.

* * *

The foreign diplomats got to Babel without any further incident. In fact, the majority of them did not notice the battle that happened at all; they merely complained that the ship was bumpy during the night and that Captain Kirk should look into getting that fixed.

Jim survived, but was confined to sick bay for the duration of the journey. His stab wound healed without further complications. Spock's father made a full recovery. Spock commanded the _Enterprise_ until they reached Babel.

Everyone soon forgot about the prisoner's mysterious warning of a war between the Federation and Klingons. Jim got released from sick bay two weeks ahead of schedule because he was annoying everyone.

Spock and McCoy were in charge of making sure all of the ambassadors made it safely down to the surface. Knowing this, the second Jim was released from sick bay, he headed for the shuttle bay.

Spock and McCoy were standing in front of the doors to the shuttle bay, arguing about something, per usual. Jim could hardly keep the grin off of his face as he walked over to join them.

"Show me how to do the Vulcan salute thing again," McCoy was saying.

Spock looked faintly annoyed as he arranged his fingers in the customary 'V'. McCoy tried valiantly to get it right, growling when his fingers just would not work.

"Captain approaching," the ensign in charge of the shuttle bay announced as Jim reached them.

Spock and McCoy turned. Spock raised an eyebrow while McCoy merely scowled.

"How the hell did you get out of sick bay?" he demanded.

"It's all a part of my charm," Jim said with a grin.

"Vulcan ambassadors approaching," the ensign reported.

Jim, Spock, and McCoy all straightened. McCoy hid his hands behind his back while both Spock and Jim gave the Sarek and the other ambassadors a perfect Vulcan salute.

"Thank you, Captain, for once more saving my life," Sarek said, returning the salute. "I am in your debt."

"I was only doing my job," Jim said. "Live long and prosper."

"Live long and prosper," Sarek returned. He nodded once to Spock and McCoy before leading the way to the shuttle bay.

"You know," Jim said as the shuttle prepared for launch. "I think next time Starfleet issues us a diplomatic mission, we run the other way as fast as possible."

"I second that notion," Spock said with utter seriousness.

McCoy stared at Spock as the shuttle took off, his mouth hanging open in blank surprise.

"Is anyone else hungry?" Jim asked, grinning again as he clapped his first officer and CMO on the shoulder. "Let's go get something to eat."

"He made a joke," McCoy said in a stage whisper. "I don't believe it. The damn green blooded hobgoblin made a _joke_."

"It's the end of the galaxy," Jim said gravely.

"Captain," Spock began.

"It's a figure of speech," Jim said hastily before Spock could get into the logistics of how his making a joke could not possibly cause the end of the universe.

"I see," Spock said.

"Right," McCoy snorted. "Sure you do."

And with the two bickering men in tow, Jim headed for the mess hall.

* * *

Jim returned to the bridge the next day, only to find that Starfleet had already sent on a new mission to a planet called M-113 for the _Enterprise_ to deliver supplies to the archaeologists there.

"Warp 1, Mr. Sulu," Jim said as he took his seat in the captain's chair. "Let's punch it."


	10. Tomorrow is Yesterday Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: If I owned them... then I wouldn't share them. :)**

**Author's Note: Okay. So. Welcome back everyone for arc 2 of the _Voyages of the _USS Enterprise. This arc was originally going to be completely different-involving much more hurt Jim and angst. But... then, my mother had to go and get me hooked on this awesome television show called _J*A*G_... which had this really kickass main character guy called Harmon Rabb... and then I got to thinking about how it would be cool if Jim were a Naval Aviator Pilot... and then my brain got this great idea of how to work it into this story... so, it somehow came into existence. So, yeah. And I did just give out one semi-major spoiler for this arc. But oh well. So. If you've seen _JAG_, then you'll know how awesome it is and maybe kind of where I'm going with this. If you haven't... don't worry about it. This really doesn't take place in canon with the _JAG _series anyway. It just uses the characters and places in it. **

**Author's Note 2: Believe it or not, I do have an overall plot for this story. It will be coming into play the further we get with this story. I hope you all are still as excited for new chapters... because this thing is going to be _huge_. But there is one thing I'd like to stress: Although these first two arcs are going to be extremely similar to episodes from _TOS_, not all of them are going to be like that. Yes, there will be mentions and references to them throughout the story, but not all of them are going to be exactly alike. That would be boring. And before you all get mad: _Conscience of a King_ is one of the ones I'm going to recreate... and put my own epic spin on. So, be excited, but like I said in chapter one of this story: expect the unexpected. Don't assume you know anything. Because... you probably don't. **

**Author's Note 3: Thank you for reading and reviewing! I have been kind of busy lately, but I promise, I will start responding to reviews when I have a moment and am not overcome with writing this story.**

**Thanks again!**

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The Voyages of the _USS Enterprise_

**Arc 2: **_Tomorrow is Yesterday_

**Summary of arc: **During a routine patrol mission, the _Enterprise_ gets sucked into the sun's gravitational pull. While trying to break free, it accidentally gets sent back to the year 1995, where space travel is in the far distant future and the countries on Earth are still heavily divided. Due to a transporter malfunction, Jim, Spock, Doctor McCoy and Scotty are beamed down aboard a naval aircraft carrier called the _USS Seahawk_. In order to avoid detection, the four must join the crew and become Naval officers. However, this proves difficult when the captain of the ship is murdered and JAG officers are called onboard the _Seahawk_ to investigate.

* * *

**Chapter 1: Slingshot Around the Sun**

It had been one month since the events en route to Babel. The _Enterprise_, led by Jim Kirk, had successfully completed three missions that had resulted in new planets for the Federation and resolved two interplanetary wars during that time. There had been a couple of near-death experiences, but thanks to Jim's ingenuity and a couple of well timed transports of Scotty's, everyone (minus two red-shirts) survived the encounters with alien planets intact.

The _Enterprise_ was currently on a mission to patrol Earth's quadrant, which was pretty peaceful. Jim figured it was a way of giving the crew a break from the nonstop action they had been experiencing since Babel. Word had gotten out that the _Enterprise_ and her crew were a force to be reckoned with despite their young age and thus, everyone in the Federation wanted the _Enterprise_ to play peace-keeper. So, Admiral Pike had arranged a quiet cruise through the empty space while another ship took on some of the missions.

The mission was simple—patrol the outer perimeter for a while and keep a look out for any strange anomalies. Jim had heard there had been reports of random bursts of green light near Mercury and wanted to check them out. Spock had written them off as imagination and drunken reports (it was true, for the most part), but agreed to go along with it.

Jim was currently sitting in the captain's chair, signing off on reports. Yeoman Rand stood nearby, waiting patiently for him to finish. Spock and Uhura were conversing in low voices at the communications' station. Jim wasn't sure what all had happened between them while the diplomats had been onboard, but things hadn't been quite right between them since. Even now, as Jim absently signed his name while covertly watching his XO and communications' officer, they seemed to be arguing about something.

"Sir, you were supposed to initial there," Yeoman Rand said in a slightly exasperated voice.

Jim blinked, turning his attention back to the reports.

"Sorry," he said. He offered the yeoman a quick smile. "Guess I must have dozed off there for a moment."

"That's okay," Yeoman Rand said, retuning the smile. She handed him another padd. "Last one and then you can go back to your nap."

Jim nodded, quickly singing the padd and handing it to her.

"So what were all of those reports about?" he asked.

Yeoman Rand shook her head.

"Will that be all, Captain?" she asked.

"Yes, thank you," Jim said, dismissing her from the bridge.

The doors to the turbo lift slid open before the young yeoman had the chance to exit. Doctor McCoy walked in, looking annoyed per usual. He glanced around the bridge, his eyes narrowing when he saw Jim.

"Are you trying to give me heart failure?" he demanded.

Although his voice was at its normal level, it sounded abnormally loud in the silent bridge.

Jim, who had been attempting to slide down in the captain's chair to avoid detection, straightened up and sighed heavily.

"Bones," he began.

"Don't you 'Bones' me," the doctor snapped. "You know you haven't been cleared for bridge duty yet. Are you trying to kill yourself?"

"You said last night that I was fine!" Jim defended! "I just thought-."

"You didn't think, you moron," Doctor McCoy growled.

"I think it goes against bridge conduct to call the captain a moron in front of his crew," Jim said.

"It goes against Starfleet regulations to ignore CMO orders," Doctor McCoy returned. "And don't change the subject."

"I'm fine, Bones," Jim said with a wave of his hand. "My side is fine, my knee doesn't hurt. I'm _fine_. Besides, I was on the bridge yesterday and you didn't squawk."

During the last mission, Jim had stepped in a hole and tore the ligaments in his knee. No one was quite sure how he managed to do _that_ much damage with such a small action, but they just figured it was a Kirk thing.

Before Doctor McCoy had the chance to reply, the gravitational sensors suddenly began to beep erratically. The _Enterprise_ began to pick up speed.

"What's going on?" Jim demanded, turning his attention away from the doctor and to the bridge.

"Keptin! Ze _Enterprise_ is too close to ze sun!" Chekov exclaimed.

"The gravitational pull is causing the _Enterprise_ to increase in speed!" Sulu added. "We're at warp 4. Now 5. Now we're at warp 8!"

"We are going to be pulled into ze sun!" Chekov concluded.

"Convert all power to the engines!" Jim shouted as the bridge erupted into a flurry of activity. "Reverse thrusters! I want all of our energy put into going _backward_! Get Scotty-!"

He never got the chance to finish. There was a sudden burst of speed, catapulting the _Enterprise_ to the sun. The sensors began to beep faster and louder. Blinding reddish light filled the _Enterprise_'s view screen. Then, suddenly, everything went silent and black.

Jim felt as though he was being squeezed through a giant rubber tube. It was blistering hot. He vaguely thought the he was dead and in Hell, for Heaven couldn't be this hot.

Abruptly, the feeling stopped. There was a huge jerking motion, causing Jim to fall out of his chair. He heard thumps and groans that meant everyone else had fallen over. He heard McCoy cursing behind him.

The lights cut back on with a sudden influx of power. The temperature cooled to a tolerable level.

Jim groaned as he pushed himself back up to his feet. His knee was throbbing again, in time with his head. He must have knocked it when he fell out of the chair.

Around him, the bridge crew was slowly getting back to their feet, rubbing sore limbs. Spock was among the first up and attempted to help Uhura up. The communications' officer ignored him and pushed herself back onto her feet.

"What the hell happened?" McCoy demanded.

"I don't know," Jim admitted, looking around. He was sure that was going to be the end. There had been no time to escape. That, he realized, had been what should have been a no win situation. But… somehow, they had survived.

"I hate space," McCoy muttered.

"Captain," Spock said, walking over to stand behind Jim's chair. "I believe we managed to break free of the sun's gravity moments before it was too late."

"Sir, I just got a message from engineering!" Uhura said. "Engines are down. Scotty reports severe damage and a lot of casualties. There also seems to be a malfunction with the transporter."

"Get a line out to Starfleet," Jim ordered. "Let them know what happened and ask for assistance back to Earth."

Uhura nodded once, fiddling with the dials and buttons at her station for a moment.

"Captain, we have a problem," she said.

"What is it?" Jim asked.

"There's nothing on Starfleet's frequency," she said, sounding confused.

"What do you mean?" Jim demanded.

"I mean there's nothing there but dead air," Uhura said. "It's the same for the frequencies to all of the other ships."

"Is there something wrong with the communications' station?" Jim asked.

Uhura shook her head.

"No, sir," she said. She was quiet for a moment. "I think I'm getting something!"

"Is it Starfleet?" Doctor McCoy demanded.

Uhura shook her head again. "No," she said. "You need to hear this, Captain."

"Put it on," Jim ordered.

"_This is the CAG, coming in for a landing onboard the USS Seahawk,"_ an unfamiliar voice announced.

"_Roger that, CAG, you are clear to land,_" another voice answered.

"What the hell is going on?" Doctor McCoy whispered.

"Sulu, what does the chronometer say?" Jim asked.

"I can't get a read on it—it's gone haywire sir," Sulu said.

"Captain?" Spock questioned.

"This is impossible," Jim muttered. "This is freaking impossible."

"_Do you have the ball, CAG?_" the second unfamiliar voice asked.

"_Roger that, I have the ball,_" the first voice answered.

"Jim?" Doctor McCoy asked.

"_You're coming in too low, give me some altitude,_" the second voice said.

"This is unbelievable," Jim said. "There is no way this could have happened."

"Sir, the chronometer finally stopped running," Sulu said. He sounded just as confused as Jim.

"What is its reading?" Spock asked when Jim didn't reply.

"_Touchdown!_" the second voice said. "_Welcome back onboard, CAG_."

"_Roger that,_" the first voice answered. "_It is good to be back._"

"It must be wrong," Sulu said.

"For god's sakes, what the hell is going on here?" Doctor McCoy demanded.

"The chronometer says we're in 1995," Sulu replied in a shocked voice. "It's impossible, but I think-."

"We've gone back in time," Jim concluded.


	11. Tomorrow is Yesterday Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: If I owned them... then I wouldn't share them. :)**

**Author's Note: So... this one kind of gets a little sticky in spots because I didn't really know what to write. But... that's okay, because in the next chapter, we're going to take sail on the _USS Seahawk_ and JIm's going to become a Naval Aviator. I'm excited. :) **

**Author's Note 2: Thanks to everyone who's read and reviewed! I'm going to start responding to everything from like... chapter 7 today. **

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_The Voyages of the USS Enterprise_

**Arc 2: **_Tomorrow is Yesterday_

**Summary of arc: **During a routine patrol mission, the _Enterprise_ gets sucked into the sun's gravitational pull. While trying to break free, it accidentally gets sent back to the year 1995, where space travel is in the far distant future and the countries on Earth are still heavily divided. Due to a transporter malfunction, Jim, Spock, Doctor McCoy and Scotty are beamed down aboard a naval aircraft carrier called the _USS Seahawk_. In order to avoid detection, the four must join the crew and become Naval officers. However, this proves difficult when the captain of the ship is murdered and JAG officers are called onboard the _Seahawk_ to investigate.

* * *

**Chapter 2: Of Repairs and Transporter Incidents**

There was complete and utter silence on the bridge. Jim wished he could get a holovid of all the faces that were staring at him with their mouths hanging open in shock. He might as well have announced that he was the Easter Bunny or something.

"That's impossible," Doctor McCoy said instantly.

"Obviously, Doctor, it is not," Spock said dryly.

"Look, you damn green blooded hobgoblin," Doctor McCoy began.

"How is this possible?" Uhura demanded, interrupting what would probably have been an epic rant on the doctor's part. "I mean, everyone who has ever studied the possibility of time travel says that it is impossible."

"Uhura, you have witnessed Romulans from a different timeline altogether and you still say that time travel is impossible?" Jim asked.

"The Captain is right," Spock said. "We can no longer accept that time travel is impossible, when we have evidence that it is indeed possible."

"But _how_?" Sulu asked. "I mean, all we did was get too close to the sun. What, did the gravitational pull somehow react with our engines, causing us to go fast enough in reverse that we would actually travel backward in time?"

The bridge was completely silent again.

"That," Spock said at last. "Is an interesting theory, Mr. Sulu. And a very probable one."

"You're all insane," Doctor McCoy muttered. "Everyone here is crazy."

"It's not crazy, Bones," Jim said with a wry grin. "It's freaking awesome! How many other people can say they traveled back in time? This is so cool!"

"Only you would find this cool," Doctor McCoy growled. "How are we going to get back? I don't know about you, but I don't fancy being stuck in the twentieth century for the rest of my life."

"Couldn't we just repeat what we did to get here, only in reverse?" Uhura asked.

"There's a slight problem with that," Sulu said.

"What's that?" Jim asked.

"I'm not exactly sure _how_ we wound up here," Sulu admitted as the doors to the turbo lift slid open behind Jim. "And I'm not sure we can recreate it."

"And we aren't going to be trying anytime soon," Scotty announced.

Jim turned around to face his chief of engineering.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"The engines are overheated," Scotty said. "Any attempt to do anything other than just sit here would result in the ship blowing up. Or cooking us in our seats."

"Aren't you pleasant," Doctor McCoy mumbled.

"Just telling the truth, lad," Scotty said with a shrug. "We can't do much but wait for now."

"How long do the engines need to cool down?" Jim asked.

"Well, the engines will need about three days to cool down completely," Scotty said. "And then another forty-eight hours to four days to repair with all the right tools."

"Repair?" Jim echoed. "What's wrong with them?"

"When the engines overheated, they melted some of their protective seals," Scotty said. "I will need time to repair that."

"So we're stuck here for at least a week?" Jim asked.

"Maybe longer," Scotty said.

"What is Starfleet going to think when we don't check in?" Uhura asked quietly.

"At the moment, I don't think that is very high on our priorities, Lieutenant," Jim said. "For the present, I want everyone who is able to help out with the repairs of the _Enterprise_. I don't care if you're a communications' officer or a botanist. Everyone can do their share to help."

"Thank you, Captain," Scotty said. "But I would prefer to leave this in the hands of my more experienced engineers."

"That wasn't an offer," Jim said. "That was an order. We can't afford to just sit here."

"Aye, Captain," Scotty said, looking slightly annoyed. "Maybe you and Mr. Spock can help Ensign Proud out in the transporter room, then. He reported sparks and bright lights."

"Certainly," Jim said, jumping up instantly. "We don't want to accidentally beam up anyone from this century."

"Indeed," Spock said. "That would be catastrophic."

"Bones, you're coming with us," Jim added, as the doctor tried to inch away to the turbo lift. "There might be injuries and we need your skill as CMO to fix them."

"Yes, Captain," Doctor McCoy replied, looking more than a little annoyed.

"Mr. Sulu, you have the bridge," Jim said.

"Yes, sir," Sulu said.

* * *

Jim crawled out from underneath the transporter, covered in blood, grease and oil, but grinning. There was something about repairing the _Enterprise_, or any machine for that matter, that put him in a good mood.

"Captain, I believe that the transporter, while temporarily fixed, has a sixty two point three nine percent chance of malfunctioning again," Spock said from the edge of the room.

"Well, until we can get back to our own time, we're just going to have to make do and not use the transporter," Jim said, picking up a towel and wiping off his hands. He winced as he rubbed too hard on his left—he had sliced it open on a loose piece of metal.

"Give me your hand," Doctor McCoy said with a sigh.

"It's fine, Bones," Jim said. "It's just a scratch."

"That's covered in oil and grease and needs to be cleaned," Doctor McCoy growled.

"Bones," Jim began.

"Captain, if I may ask, how did you know how to repair the transporter?" Spock asked suddenly.

"I spent part of my life in Iowa, you know," Jim said. "There's a huge shipyard that does repairs there. I spent some time there when I was sixteen, learning the ropes and such. By now, I probably know more about this ship than Scotty does, but don't tell him that."

Doctor McCoy took advantage of Jim's temporary distraction to grab hold of the Captain's injured hand. Before Jim had the chance to protest, Doctor McCoy had cleaned it off and wrapped with a bandage.

"There, you overgrown baby," Doctor McCoy said with an air of triumph. "Whenever you're done playing with the transporter, come down to sick bay. And don't make me come find you, either."

"Bones," Jim started again.

He was interrupted once more, this time by Scotty's entrance to the transporter room. The engineer looked frazzled.

"How are the repairs on the transporter?" he asked.

"They're done," Jim said. "They'll need to be repaired again when we get back to our own time, but they should hold for right-."

Before he had the chance to finish speaking, gold light engulfed the entire room.

"I hate space," was the last thing Jim heard before the transporter room disappeared.


	12. Tomorrow is Yesterday Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: If I were only lucky enough to own them... sigh.**

**Author's Note: I am _so_ very sorry for the delay in updates. I just couldn't think of an appropriate ending to this chapter... and I'm still not that happy with it. Oh well. **

**Author's Note 2: There is, unfortunately, no Scotty in this chapter. He's mentioned, but he's really not in it. I apologize for that as well.**

**Author's Note 3: Thank you to everyone who read and reviewed the last chapter! If I haven't responded to your reviews yet, I will! **

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The Voyages of the USS Enterprise

**Arc 2: **_Tomorrow is Yesterday_

**Summary of arc: **During a routine patrol mission, the _Enterprise_ gets sucked into the sun's gravitational pull. While trying to break free, it accidentally gets sent back to the year 1995, where space travel is in the far distant future and the countries on Earth are still heavily divided. Due to a transporter malfunction, Jim, Spock, Doctor McCoy and Scotty are beamed down aboard a naval aircraft carrier called the _USS Seahawk_. In order to avoid detection, the four must join the crew and become Naval officers. However, this proves difficult when the captain of the ship is murdered and JAG officers are called onboard the _Seahawk_ to investigate.

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**Chapter 3: What Now?**

It was loud. That was the first thing Jim noticed. It sounded as though there were a hundred spaceships taking off at once.

It was cold and wet, too. Jim noticed that as feeling gradually came back to him. His fingers and toes were already numb.

He was vaguely aware of people yelling and a strong current both pulling and pushing at him. He distantly wondered what happened.

"Man overboard!" someone shouted. "I think he's unconscious!"

_That would explain why my eyes are closed,_ Jim thought. He forced his eyes open, groaning as he realized what had happened.

The transporter malfunctioned, sending Jim, Spock, Scotty, and Bones down to the ship they had heard on the radio. Only, instead of sending Jim onto the nice, _dry_ ship, it sent the Captain into ocean a few yards away from the ship. The frigid, wet, _angry_ ocean that seemed intent on shoving Jim against the side of the ship.

"There are two of them!" someone else yelled.

Jim opened his eyes again, not realizing that they had shut. Spock was floating a few feet away from him, a bruise beginning to form on his temple. _Shit_, Jim thought as he forced his despondent limbs into action. He managed to halve the distance between him and his first officer before a life preserver magically appeared in front of his face. It was the last thing he saw before everything went dark for the second time that day.

* * *

Jim was vaguely aware of beeping monitors and unfamiliar voices as he gradually came back to consciousness. He figured he was at some Starfleet medical hospital, which meant his latest mission had gone very south and he had probably wound up with numerous injuries. Again.

"The helicopter must have had mechanical problems," someone with a distinct masculine voice said.

_Helicopter?_ Jim thought dully. _Why would someone by flying a helicopter?_ _It was probably Sulu. I'm going to kill him. With his katana. _

"I swear, Commander, there were no mechanical errors," someone else said. It wasn't Sulu, Jim realized. Whoever it was, he sounded exhausted, as though he had had this argument many times in the past few… however long it had been since Jim had been in the water.

Wait. _Water?_

Jim forced his eyes open, not daring to believe his memories over the past few… however long it had been… were true.

Seeing the nineteen-nineties United States Naval uniforms of the men around him and the ancient hospital machinery, Jim realized his memories were right.

"Welcome back, Lieutenant."

A haggard looking man with short dark hair and hazel eyes dressed in a khaki uniform entered Jim's direct line of sight.

"Wh—hap'ned?" Jim slurred.

"The helicopter bringing you and the other new recruits rolled over on its side. You and two other recruits were thrown in the water," the man said. Jim took him to be the doctor.

"Other two?" Jim questioned. Hadn't there been three others with him when the transporter malfunctioned?

The doctor nodded. "They're both fine," he said. "They both woke up a couple of minutes ago."

"Where are they?" Jim asked.

Before he could finish asking his question, he heard an all too familiar Georgian accent from his right arguing with another all too familiar emotionless voice. He glanced over, feeling a smile tug at his lips when he saw Doctor McCoy and Spock sitting in opposite beds, glaring at each other about something the other had said. Rather, Doctor McCoy was glaring and Spock was doing the Vulcan equivalent of a glare with his raised eyebrow. Save for a couple of bruises, they both looked all right.

"Damn green blooded hobgoblin," Doctor McCoy muttered.

"Was there a third man in the water?" Jim asked, turning his gaze back to the doctor.

The man shook his head. "No, fortunately, it was only you three. But there has been an angry Scottish fellow demanding to know your condition since the emergency teams hauled you down here. I'll let him know that you're alive."

He wrote something down on the clipboard in his hand before turning and walking away. Nearby, Doctor McCoy and Spock seemed to have finally noticed the fact that Jim had gained consciousness.

"Finally!" Doctor McCoy exclaimed. "I was beginning to think the incompetent people around here had managed to kill you."

"Well, I'm alive," Jim said. "So you can quit your worrying."

"How's your knee?" Doctor McCoy asked.

"It's fine," Jim said with a wave of his hand.

"Captain," Spock began.

"Spock, as long as we're stuck in this century and onboard this ship, I don't think it's a good idea for you to call me Captain," Jim interrupted. "It's either Jim, Kirk, or Lieutenant. You heard the doctor, he thinks we're all new recruits or something."

"Very well," Spock said with the smallest tightening of his lips. He apparently didn't like being demoted in rank. Jim didn't blame him. He wasn't too sure if he liked the entire situation either.

"Where exactly are we?" Doctor McCoy asked.

"We are onboard the USS _Seahawk_," Spock supplied when Jim didn't answer. "I believe that it is a United States naval vessel. The year, obviously, is 1995. I am ninety two point three zero five percent certain that we are in the Atlantic Ocean. However, I cannot give exact coordinates."

"Thank you, Mr. Spock," Jim said as Doctor McCoy opened his mouth to question how Spock knew all of those things.

"So what do we do now?" Doctor McCoy asked.

"First," Jim said. "We find Scotty and find out what exactly happened. Then, I suggest we take roles onboard the ship to avoid detection. We can't have anyone finding out who exactly we are."

"Knowledge of futuristic life would indeed be damaging to this timeline," Spock said. "Your plan is sound, Capt—Jim."

"And what roles do you suggest we take?" Doctor McCoy asked. "We're in 1995, in case you haven't realized."

"Bones, just because the years have changed, doesn't mean professions have," Jim said. "I think we'll find that life onboard this naval vessel isn't that different than life onboard the _Enterprise_. After all, Starfleet was modeled after the United States Navy."

"Cap—Jim, Doctor McCoy's question is logical," Spock said. "While the doctor could work in sick bay, you nor I could be the captain or first officer onboard this ship."

"I'm working on that," Jim said evasively. He had a plan, but he knew that McCoy wouldn't go for it. He would claim it was too risky. It probably was… but Jim didn't care.

"Jim," McCoy began.

"Bones," Jim said. "This will work. Trust me on that."


	13. Tomorrow is Yesterday Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: If I owned them, do you really think I'd be inclined to share them with the rest of the world? **

**Author's Note: Again, there is no Scotty in this chapter. I apologize. But he will make an appearance in the next chapter! Someone has to show the 20th century Naval people how engineering is supposed to be done! And he's going to be a genius.**

**Author's Note 2: The _Enterprise_ will be in the next chapter as well. Just so you know.**

**Happy holidays to everyone! Thanks for reading and reviewing! I will be responding to your reviews here shortly.**

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The Voyages of the USS Enterprise

**Arc 2: **_Tomorrow is Yesterday_

**Summary of arc: **During a routine patrol mission, the _Enterprise_ gets sucked into the sun's gravitational pull. While trying to break free, it accidentally gets sent back to the year 1995, where space travel is in the far distant future and the countries on Earth are still heavily divided. Due to a transporter malfunction, Jim, Spock, Doctor McCoy and Scotty are beamed down aboard a naval aircraft carrier called the _USS Seahawk_. In order to avoid detection, the four must join the crew and become Naval officers. However, this proves difficult when the captain of the ship is murdered and JAG officers are called onboard the _Seahawk_ to investigate.

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**Chapter 4: Recovery and Timeline Debates**

Jim could tell from the lack of people in sick bay that it was now the night shift. There was one doctor supposedly keeping watch, but he spent more time nursing his coffee and writing reports than he did watching the sick bay occupants.

Jim knew from the loud snoring two beds over that Doctor McCoy was fast asleep and the quiet, even breathing signaled that Spock was meditating at the very least. Jim should have been asleep, but he was too excited. Being onboard a real, live 1995 Naval aircraft carrier was like a dream come true. When he was a little kid, he had read everything about the American Navy and watched all of the old war holos. When he was seventeen and had run away from home for the seven billionth time, he had even stolen an ancient F-14 Tomcat from a museum and took it for a joyride. He still had the old war plane in a storage facility in Georgia, not that the police would ever find out about it.

There was a roar coming from above Jim. He couldn't help but grin and shake his head. There was no way in hell that anyone was ever going to believe this happened. This had to be some strange, fascinating dream. There was no way he could have gone back in time or wound up in 1995 of all times.

He sighed, shoving back the covers. There was no reason for him to sit here and stare at the ceiling for the next few hours. Not when he had an entire aircraft carrier to explore.

Jim quietly crept out of his bed and headed toward the sick bay door. He didn't want to disturb McCoy or Spock, knowing he would probably receive a lecture from both of them about how illogical he was being.

He didn't care. He wanted to see the ship. And to find Scotty, but that would just be his excuse if Spock or McCoy found him.

Holding his breath, Jim quickly pushed open the hatch, feeling a thrill shoot through him as the cold metal door swung open. Taking a deep breath, he stepped through the door and into the hallway beyond.

* * *

Doctor McCoy woke the next morning to the sound of Jim chattering away excitedly about something involving airplanes and RIOs. Not quite believing that he was actually awake, the doctor rolled over, groaning as his back muscles protested the effort. He felt as though he had been run over by a starship.

Forcing his eyes open, McCoy started at the foreign surroundings.

_Damn it,_ he thought. He had hoped the previous day's adventures had been some strange twisted dream. But from the look of utmost glee on Jim's face as he talked animatedly to a stoic, slightly bruised Spock, McCoy knew that his hope was in vain.

"I've got our cover stories all set up," Jim was saying as McCoy forced himself into a sitting position. "You and I are going to be Naval aviators. The helicopter we supposedly fell out of was bringing in the new recruits. It's perfect!"

"Cap—_Jim_," Spock said, sounding very distantly annoyed. "Although the thought might not have occurred to you, the 20th century American Navy does not fly starships."

_Was Spock seriously being sarcastic and… _bitchy_? _McCoy wondered, his eyes widening. This had to be a dream.

"I'm well aware of that, Spock," Jim said, with an offhanded wave. "But you are competent enough to read radar screens, aren't you?"

"I do not fully comprehend what you are asking," Spock said. "I have the ability to read a radar screen, as does anyone, but I was instructed on 23rd century equipment."

"You'll be fine," Jim said. "You adapt quickly enough."

Spock looked like he was about to say more, but the conversation was interrupted by the entrance of the sick bay commander.

"Well, lieutenants, it seems as though you three were extremely fortunate," he announced. "You will be released today and report to the skipper for bunk and duty assignments."

"Aye, sir!" Jim said, straightening and offering a perfect salute.

Doctor McCoy was amused. If only the instructors at Starfleet Academy could see their golden rebel child now.

"I will have some uniforms brought over for you," the commander said. He turned to Doctor McCoy. "You will remain here when your fellow recruits have left. I hear that you are a medical officer."

"That is correct," McCoy said, albeit hesitantly. He would never admit it, but he had the same reservations Spock had about taking roles in this century. Shouldn't they be focusing their efforts more on getting back to the _Enterprise_ and getting back to their own time?

But Jim didn't seem to see things that way. He was like a little kid at Christmas who had gotten everything he had ever wanted. McCoy shouldn't have been surprised—when they had been roommates at the Academy, all Jim had ever done was talk about the Navy and how awesome it would have been to be a Naval aviator. When he wasn't going out, getting drunk, sleeping with girls and the like.

"Good," the commander said. "The Navy never seems to understand the need for competent medical help. I have been understaffed since the day we were deployed. It will be good to have some extra help."

"Aye, sir," McCoy said, mimicking the salute Jim had given moments before.

The commander nodded once and then left. McCoy looked back to Jim, who was now grinning his _I'm going to get into trouble and drag you along with me_ grin.

"Don't," McCoy said before the other man could open his mouth.

"What?" Jim asked, trying and failing to look innocent.

"You know what," McCoy retorted.

Spock raised an eyebrow at the both of them, but otherwise said nothing. Jim mumbled something incoherent under his breath just as a medium height man with a serious mustache walked in. He wore a dark blue baseball cap that read _USS Seahawk _and the id information underneath it.

Jim stiffened instantly and offered another salute. Spock and McCoy quickly followed the suit, both deciding that mimicking Jim wouldn't hurt.

"At ease, gentlemen," the man said. "I hear two of you are potential aviators."

"Aye, aye, sir," Jim said.

"And who would you be?" the man asked.

"Lieutenant James T. Kirk, sir," Jim said. "This is Lieutenant Spock and Lieutenant McCoy. Spock is a RIO, sir."

"I'm the CAG onboard this ship," the man said. "Name's Boone. When you two are released, report to the flight deck immediately for a training mission."

"Aye sir," Jim said.

Although his face was composed, McCoy didn't miss the excitement that radiated off of Jim. The last time the doctor had seen his friend this excited was right after he had been given the _Enterprise_.

"That will be all," Boone said.

He turned and left. Jim was practically bouncing as he turned back to Spock and McCoy. He faltered slightly when he saw the looks on his friends' faces.

"What?" he asked.

"Do you even know how to fly an airplane?" McCoy asked, his voice quiet.

"Yes," Jim said promptly.

"I do not think that is the main problem," Spock said.

"Not the main problem?" McCoy echoed. "Not the main problem! You two could be _killed_ out there if Jim doesn't know what he's doing!"

"While that is indeed some concern, we have to consider the outcome of our actions," Spock said. "As we are in the past, anything we do here could cause reactions so severe that we cannot even begin to predict them."

"The butterfly effect," Jim supplied, looking bored. "But Spock, isn't it possible that this is the same situation that Nero and the ambassador created when they came to our timeline?"

"It is highly unlikely," Spock countered. "The phenomenon which Nero created was caused by a substance called red matter, which creates wormholes and black holes. We were not sucked through either of these that I am aware of. We merely traveled so quickly in reverse that we succeeded in going backward in time. We are still in the same timeline, just in a different era."

"Damn it, I'm a doctor, not a physicist! What the hell does all this mean?" McCoy demanded.

"It means that if we do anything to influence things onboard this ship," Jim said, looking very serious for once in his life, "then it is possible that the future as we know it could cease to exist."


	14. Tomorrow is Yesterday Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: If I owned them, do you really think I'd be inclined to share them with the rest of the world? **

**Author's Note: Hello all! Just so you know... this chapter started out as a nice, simple one without a whole lot of action... and then took a very Kirkian disastrous turn for the worse. But... it's one of the most fun chapters I have written yet! So, enjoy! **

**Author's Note 2: By the way, Scotty is in this chapter. And he's part of the reason why I enjoyed writing this chapter so much. And the _Enterprise_ makes an appearance. So... yay!**

**I hope you all have had a happy holiday and are looking forward to the New Year! **

**I'm in the process of responding to everyone's reviews... though your input is continually appreciated! : ) **

**

* * *

**

The Voyages of the USS Enterprise

**Arc 2: **_Tomorrow is Yesterday_

**Summary of arc: **During a routine patrol mission, the _Enterprise_ gets sucked into the sun's gravitational pull. While trying to break free, it accidentally gets sent back to the year 1995, where space travel is in the far distant future and the countries on Earth are still heavily divided. Due to a transporter malfunction, Jim, Spock, Doctor McCoy and Scotty are beamed down aboard a naval aircraft carrier called the _USS Seahawk_. In order to avoid detection, the four must join the crew and become Naval officers. However, this proves difficult when the captain of the ship is murdered and JAG officers are called onboard the _Seahawk_ to investigate.

* * *

**Chapter 5: Flight of the F-14**

Jim pressed some of the buttons on the dashboard, feeling a thrill of excitement shoot through him as they lit up and the radar came to life. The airplane roared underneath him, just begging to be let into the sky.

_This is damn amazing,_ he thought, grinning as he buttoned his oxygen mask into place.

"_All systems go,_" the air boss said from the ground. "_Are you ready to take off?_"

"Aye," Jim said, unable to keep the shiver of excitement from rushing through him. "Spock?"

"Yes, sir," Spock said from the back seat.

The airplane began to move, slowly at first as she was positioned on the runway.

"_Remember, this is just a basic training mission,_" the CAG, Boone, said over the radio. "_Take it easy. Don't push too hard. Just fly to the given coordinates and back. Don't take any risks._"

"Yes, sir!" Jim said. "Spock, are the coordinates ready?"

"Yes sir," Spock repeated.

Jim saluted the flight deck attendant, who returned the salute. He took a deep breath and placed his hands on the yolk.

_Here we go,_ he thought as the airplane was catapulted toward the open sea.

* * *

McCoy watched with a sigh as the F-14 carrying Jim and Spock launched into the air and rapidly disappeared from sight. He should have been in sick bay, but he had wanted to make sure Jim didn't manage to blow up the damn aircraft carrier.

There was a commotion behind him. He turned, surprised to find Scotty standing behind him, dressed similarly to the rest of the men on the flight deck. He was conversing rather loudly with a taller man, who looked like he was about ready to throw Scotty overboard.

McCoy sighed. There was just something about the damn Scotsman that inspired that feeling in a lot of people. However, there was no denying that the man was freaking brilliant, having saved the lives of everyone onboard the _Enterprise_ multiple times. McCoy figured he might as well return the gesture and not get Scotty thrown overboard now.

"Ye are doing it _wrong_, sir," Scotty was saying as McCoy approached. "The lines need to be rolled this way. If ye keep doing it yer way, then the next person who comes to use it is going to get themselves strangled!"

"Scott!" McCoy barked in his best command voice. It wasn't nearly as effective as Jim's, but he did manage to catch the brash engineer's attention.

"Doc—Lieutenant McCoy!" Scotty greeted him.

"What are you doing?" McCoy asked.

"I was just showing this _idiot_ here how to properly roll up the lines!" Scotty said.

Although McCoy was no naval expert, not like Jim, he knew enough about the uniforms to know that Scotty was wearing that of an ensign and the other man was ranked at least a lieutenant commander.

"This _idiot_ is the air boss," the man snapped. "Lieutenant Commander Rice. You, _Ensign_ are going to be put on captain's mast if you keep this insubordination up!"

"Well, _Commander_, if you keep rolling those lines like that, you're going to end up in a pine box!" Scotty retorted.

"Ensign!" Rice barked. "At attention!"

Scotty reluctantly straightened up, a scowl darkening his face. McCoy wondered if he should intervene or if he should just watch and wait.

"You will report yourself to the brig in ten minutes," Rice said, his dangerously soft voice nearly lost in the roar of another F-14 taking off. "You will be written up for insubordination, dereliction of duty, and disobeying an order. You will be given an article 32 hearing and then it will be decided whether or not you will go to court martial and be thrown out of the service. Do you understand me?"

"No," Scotty said. "I do not. You are being a royal arse and do not seem to understand the danger you are imposing on others."

McCoy shook his head. "Commander Rice, if I may," he began.

"Shut it, Lieutenant," Rice snapped, turning to face McCoy. "You are not authorized to be onboard the flight deck during flight operations. Keep this up and you will be thrown in the brig alongside of your _friend_ here."

"Commander Rice!"

Another person approached, dressed in a uniform of higher rank than that of Commander Rice. McCoy vaguely recognized him as the CAG from earlier that day.

"CAG, these men are out of line!" Commander Rice complained. "One of them is attempting to tell me that I am rolling these lines incorrectly while the other is attempting to defend him!"

"Is this true, gentlemen?" the CAG asked, looking faintly amused.

"Yes sir," McCoy and Scotty said together.

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that," the CAG said. "Officers aboard the _Seahawk_ do not take kindly to being told they are wrong by enlisted personnel or otherwise. However, due to the circumstances, I do believe we can make allowances."

"Sir?" Commander Rice asked, confused.

"Commander Rice, you are indeed rolling those lines incorrectly," the CAG said. "As for this lieutenant being onboard the flight deck, I will handle his punishment."

"But sir," Commander Rice began.

"That will be all, Commander, or I will have your leaves," the CAG said. "Lieutenant, Ensign, you will come with me. I can find better places for you to be than hanging around here all day."

"Aye, aye, sir," Scotty and McCoy said together again.

* * *

Jim didn't remember the last time he had felt this alive as the F-14 tore through the air. He couldn't help but grin as the F-14 responded to his every command like it was merely an extension of himself.

"This is amazing!" Jim exclaimed. "Where are we, Mr. Spock?"

"We are approaching the targeted coordinates," Spock reported. "It's almost time to turn back."

"All right," Jim said, feeling slightly disappointed. He never wanted to come down. This was almost better than anything he had ever experienced.

"_All right, trainees, you are closing in on your target,_" the _Seahawk_'s communications' officer said. "_Repeat, you are closing in on your target._"

"Roger that, _Seahawk,_" Jim said. "We are closing in on our target."

The radar beeped once.

"Cap—Kirk," Spock said. "We are being followed by an unidentified aircraft."

"Crap," Jim muttered.

"Kirk," Spock said again.

"I hear you, Spock," Jim said, reaching up and fiddling with the switches above his head. "Keep me posted. Alert the _Seahawk_ what's going on. Ask them for-."

"Missile incoming!" Spock interrupted as the alarms started going off.

"Shit!" Jim swore.

He turned sharply, feeling vertigo overcome him as the plane rolled heavily. He managed to get the aircraft under control just as another missile was fired.

"_Trainees, this is the CAG. What the hell is going on out there?"_

"I don't know!" Jim shouted. "We are being followed by an unidentified aircraft intent on blowing us out of the air!"

"_Get yourselves the hell out of there!"_ the CAG ordered.

"I'm trying to, sir!" Jim retorted, pulling the F-14 around just in time to avoid another missile. The wing clipped the tail end of the missile. "Holy shit! Spock, what's the damage?"

There was no answer.

"SPOCK!" Jim shouted. He glanced into his mirror, horrified to find Spock unconscious, green blood seeping from his head.

"_What the hell happened?_" the CAG demanded.

"My RIO is unconscious, sir! The missiles are still being fired at us!" Jim reported, swerving to miss another incoming missile. He checked his radar screen, swearing up and down when he saw how many miles it was back to the _Seahawk_. They'd never make it.

"Permission to respond to the missiles with our own?" Jim shouted into his radio.

"_Granted! Get a lock on whatever is firing on you and blow it the hell out of the air!"_ the CAG replied.

* * *

Uhura let out a gasp as she heard what was happening planet side. The crew members of the _Enterprise_ had been searching for news as to what happened to their Captain, first officer, CMO, and head engineer since the transporter accident two days ago.

"What is it?" Sulu demanded from the captain's chair.

"It's the Captain and Spock," Uhura said, feeling dread wash over her. "Spock's unconscious and they are under fire."

"Under fire… what the hell?" Sulu half-shouted. "What's going on down there?"

"Apparently, Kirk and Spock are flying an F-14," Uhura said. "They're being fired on by another aircraft! Their wing has been clipped and Spock is hurt."

She could barely get the last three words out. Spock was hurt and the last thing she had said to him was that he was an emotionless bastard. What if he died? How would she forgive herself then?

"Uhura!" Sulu snapped.

Uhura blinked, turning her attention back to the acting captain.

"Sir?" she asked.

"Get a line down to the weapons' room," Sulu ordered. "Get them to ready the phaser banks!"

"Sulu," Chekov protested from the navigation con. "We cannot interfere with ze timeline! Ze results could be catastrophic!"

"If we don't, then the Captain and our first officer could _die_!" Sulu retorted. "Get the security officers to ready the phasers and be ready to fire on my command!"

"Aye, aye, sir," Uhura said.

"And if you can contact the Captain's F-14 and tell him what's going on, then do so!" Sulu added.

"Yes, sir!" Uhura said, her fingers flying across the dials.

* * *

McCoy listened in horror as the CAG shouted orders over the radio. He couldn't believe this was happening.

"Damn it, Jim," he muttered. "The second you land, I'm going to kick your sorry ass off this boat."

"Lieutenant McCoy, get your ass down to sick bay on the double! The CMO is going to need you when these two land!"

McCoy started to protest, but one look from the CAG was all it took for him to shut up and obey instantly.

"_Shit! My starboard engine is on fire!"_ was the last thing McCoy heard as he exited the bridge.

"God damn it all," he muttered.


	15. Tomorrow is Yesterday Chapter 6

**Author's Note: I apologize for the delay in this chapter. I originally thought it sucked (which it still might, but I'll let you be the judge of that) but I couldn't think of any way to change it… so I stared at my computer while it laughed hysterically at me. Then… I started watching **_**Doctor Who**_** and got inspired for yet another plotline for this story… and then I was waiting for an episode of **_**Doctor Who**_** to load and went back and reread this chapter and it actually was halfway decent. **

**So, basically, you can thank Matt Smith and David Tennant for this chapter. Yeah. **

**Author's Note 2: Aside from this update, I will only be updating on Sundays. Just so y'all know.**

**Thanks for reading and reviewing!**

**

* * *

**

The Voyages of the USS Enterprise

**Arc 2: **_Tomorrow is Yesterday_

**Summary of arc: **During a routine patrol mission, the _Enterprise_ gets sucked into the sun's gravitational pull. While trying to break free, it accidentally gets sent back to the year 1995, where space travel is in the far distant future and the countries on Earth are still heavily divided. Due to a transporter malfunction, Jim, Spock, Doctor McCoy and Scotty are beamed down aboard a naval aircraft carrier called the _USS Seahawk_. In order to avoid detection, the four must join the crew and become Naval officers. However, this proves difficult when the captain of the ship is murdered and JAG officers are called onboard the _Seahawk_ to investigate.

**

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Chapter 6: Temporary Relief

The F-14 was shuddering violently as Jim fought to bring it back under control. It was proving rather difficult with an unconscious Spock in the back seat and missiles still firing at him from every direction.

"God damn it!" he muttered, risking a quick glance at Spock. The Vulcan did not look good—his face was extremely pale and green blood was still trickling down his face.

_How the hell am I supposed to explain that to the damn sick bay officers?_ Jim wondered, swearing violently as his radar detected yet another missile inbound.

"Do these people ever give up?" he yelled.

He didn't receive an answer, nor did he expect one. Communications with the _Seahawk_ had disappeared right after the starboard engine had ignited. Jim had somehow managed to put it out (how exactly, he wasn't sure), but he knew it was only a matter of time before something else went wrong and he was either forced to eject or emergency crash land. Neither perspective looked good—if they had to eject, then Spock would be more severely injured and Jim had no way of alerting anyone where he was. If they had to crash land, then they would more than likely be taken hostage by whoever was firing at them and that would be even more disastrous with the butterfly effect and all.

"What I wouldn't give to be onboard the _Enterprise_," he muttered, turning sharply as yet another missile exploded in mid air.

_Wait…_ Jim thought, glancing around in surprise as the air around him was filled with all too familiar phaser fire.

Relief flooded through him as faint static sounded on his radio. What sounded like Uhura's voice filled the cockpit of the F-14.

"_Kirk, we have limited contact with you,"_ she said. "_Is everything all right?_"

"Everything's just fine now, Lieutenant," Jim said, breathing a heavy sigh of relief as his plane began to stabilize. "Your timing is amazing, by the way."

"_How is Spock?_" Uhura asked. Jim didn't miss the fear in her voice.

"He's been better," he admitted. "But he'll be all right now that there isn't anyone trying to blow us out of the sky."

"_How's the plane?_" Sulu's voice replaced Uhura's.

"I'm not too sure about all of the damage, but I think I'll make it back to the _Seahawk_," Jim said. "Thanks for your perfect timing."

"_It's our job to save your ass,"_ Sulu said. Jim could almost hear his grin.

"Yeah, well, you've done a fine job so far," Jim replied. "Keep up the good work."

* * *

McCoy breathed a heavy sigh of relief as Jim's heavily damaged, but still flying F-14 limped through the sky, headed toward the _Seahawk_'s runway. Communications had been regained moments before and it was ascertained that while Spock was still unconscious and one of the engines was out of commission, Jim could still manage to fly and land the plane back onboard the _Seahawk_. Not that he had any choice—the closest Naval base was over three hours away.

"Am I going to have to make it a direct order to keep you off the flight deck?"

At the sound of the CAG's voice, McCoy turned, having the presence of mind to look sheepish.

"I apologize, sir," he said. "I wanted to see for myself that Lieutenant Kirk was okay. He's had a habit of hiding his injuries from the rest of the world to the point of insanity."

"You sound like you know the Lieutenant well," the CAG commented.

"We've been best friends since the academy," McCoy said. "Been through hell together."

It was the truth, but not in the way the CAG would take it. But still, it hardly mattered in the grand scheme of things.

"Well, the Lieutenant seems to have made more than a few friends during his short time here on the _Seahawk_," the CAG said. "I just got off the horn with command—they're going to give Kirk an award for his actions as well as promote him."

_Typical_, McCoy thought with a mental scowl. _Kid's been onboard for less than twenty-four hours and he's already getting a medal. He's probably going to end up being the damn captain by the end of this freaking week._

"He will be pleased," McCoy said.

"I just hope his RIO is okay," the CAG said. "I heard that he had a pretty serious head injury."

"Spock will be okay," McCoy said confidently. "He's more stubborn than the Lieutenant. And generally more lucky."

"I take it the Lieutenant has a history of bad luck," the CAG said.

"You could put it that way," McCoy said with a faint laugh. He shifted his gaze from the CAG to Jim's approaching F-14.

"She's coming in slightly low," the CAG said, anxiety evident in his voice.

"She'll make it," McCoy said with more confidence than he felt. "Jim's a damn good pilot."

"One of the best, according to his records," the CAG said. "Still, even the best have their accidents."

Before McCoy had the chance to respond, Jim's F-14 had already landed on the aircraft carrier. It was a hard, bumpy landing, but the aircraft was still in one piece. And for that, both the CAG and McCoy breathed a sigh of relief.

"Let's go find out what exactly happened up there," the CAG said. He glanced at McCoy. "You have my permission to be onboard the flight deck. Just this once. I'm sure we're going to need your medical expertise in any event."

"Aye, aye, sir," McCoy said.

* * *

Jim rested his head on the dashboard of the airplane, taking a deep breath of relief and closing his eyes momentarily. He still couldn't believe that he had actually made it back to the _Seahawk_. It was some miracle that he had. He certainly had a guardian angel looking out for him, even in this time period,

Forcing his eyes open again, Jim turned around to check on Spock. The bleeding had finally stopped and Jim dabbed away the worst of it. The gash on the Vulcan's forehead would need stitches at the very least, but it didn't look too serious. The hardest part would be explaining the blood color to the rest of the men onboard the _Seahawk_. Jim highly doubted that the men would readily accept Spock's being Vulcan as an excuse, even if it was the truth. With any luck, McCoy would be the first person to reach them and be able to do something about the wound before anyone else found out.

Glancing back at the flight deck, Jim felt a wave of relief tinged with anxiety crash through him as he saw McCoy making his way toward the damaged F-14, alongside of the CAG.

"This is going to be interesting," he murmured to an unconscious Spock. "I take it you don't have any suggestions?"

* * *

Sulu glanced at the chronometer for the fifth time in the past hour, still not believing it when it told him that the year was 1995. Though it had already been a day and a half, and it was pretty damn obvious that there was no one else out here, it was still nearly impossible to think that they were back in time.

"Sulu?"

At the sound of Uhura's voice, Sulu turned, blinking tiredly. He hadn't realized just how exhausting the Captain's job could be, especially during a crisis such as this one. It made his level of respect for Kirk increase by a tenfold.

"Has engineering fixed the transporter yet?" Sulu asked.

Uhura shook her head. "No. They said it's going to be another two days at the earliest. But that's not what I was going to tell you."

"What is it?" Sulu asked, getting off the captain's chair and walking over to her station.

"It's about this time period, sir," she said, turning back around to face the computer screen in front of her.

"What about it?" he asked.

"Well, I was doing some research about the Navy and all, just in case the Captain and the others ran into some trouble," Uhura said. "And I found out that two days from now, the Captain of the _USS Seahawk _is murdered, along with all of the crew."


	16. Tomorrow is Yesterday Chapter 7

**Author's Note: Okay… so this chapter did not want to be written, which explains why I didn't post it last Sunday. I apologize for that. Hopefully the next chapter won't fight me nearly as much as we enter into some of the final stages of this arc. Seriously, it's only going to be like … four or five more chapters. The next chapter will hopefully be a little longer than this one… which is terribly short, I apologize. **

**Author's Note 2: Again, you have David Tennant and Matt Smith to thank for this chapter. I don't know what it is about handsome British men in converse sneakers and bow ties… but they inspire me to write/come up with a brilliant plot for this entire story, not just this one particular arc. You're going to think I'm insane when I finally get around to revealing this plot of mine, but I think you're going to really enjoy it. No spoilers, don't ask.**

**Author's Note 3: Scotty is in this chapter very briefly. More of what he has been up to will be explained in the next chapter. He's been kind of randomly popping up whenever I need someone other than Jim or Sulu or McCoy to tell the story… but now he has a point to all of this. And yes, it did take me what… seven chapters now to finally give him a purpose in this particular arc? I would apologize, but then that would make it seem like I don't have an actual plan for this story… and I'm babbling so I'm going to stop now. **

**Author's Note 4 (final author's note, I promise): If you have any **_**Star Trek**_**, **_**Doctor Who**_**, **_**Firefly**_**, **_**One Tree Hill**_**, or **_**Supernatural**_** one-shot ideas that you would like me to write, feel free to PM me or review one of my stories to tell me. I'm currently developing a **_**Doctor Who**_** fanfic that will probably rival the length of this one. **

**By the way, this thing is going to be extremely long. I'm thinking it's going to be at least six arcs… so that's about sixty chapters, give or take a couple. It could turn out to be longer, could turn out to be shorter, but I thought you'd like to know roughly how long this thing was going to be.**

**One last thing before I end this page (literally) of author's notes. Okay, two things cause I just thought of something else: I am in the process of creating a blog for my stories so you know what I'm doing and all with the stories. Plus, there will more than likely be a TON of spoilers and whatnot on the page, along with polls and such. The link to that will be appearing in my profile page at some point. I'll let you know a little more about that when I have it. Secondly, I am in the process of changing my penname. Polls are up.**

**This story is unofficially, okay slightly officially now beta'd by SezWho… a crazy friend of mine. **

**

* * *

**

The Voyages of the USS Enterprise

**Arc 2: **_Tomorrow is Yesterday_

**Summary of arc: **During a routine patrol mission, the _Enterprise_ gets sucked into the sun's gravitational pull. While trying to break free, it accidentally gets sent back to the year 1995, where space travel is in the far distant future and the countries on Earth are still heavily divided. Due to a transporter malfunction, Jim, Spock, Doctor McCoy and Scotty are beamed down aboard a naval aircraft carrier called the _USS Seahawk_. In order to avoid detection, the four must join the crew and become Naval officers. However, this proves difficult when the captain of the ship is murdered and JAG officers are called onboard the _Seahawk_ to investigate.

**

* * *

**

Chapter 7: Impending Doom

Sulu glanced at the chronometer for the fifth time in the past hour, still not believing it when it told him that the year was 1995. Though it had already been a day and a half, and it was pretty damn obvious that there was no one else out here, it was still nearly impossible to think that they were back in time.

"Sulu?"

At the sound of Uhura's voice, Sulu turned, blinking tiredly. He hadn't realized just how exhausting the Captain's job could be, especially during a crisis such as this one. It made his level of respect for Kirk increase by a tenfold.

"Has engineering fixed the transporter yet?" Sulu asked.

Uhura shook her head. "No. They said it's going to be another two days at the earliest. But that's not what I was going to tell you."

"What is it?" Sulu asked, getting off the captain's chair and walking over to her station.

"It's about this time period, sir," she said, turning back around to face the computer screen in front of her.

"What about it?" he asked.

"Well, I was doing some research about the Navy and all, just in case the Captain and the others ran into some trouble," Uhura said. "And I found out that two days from now, the Captain of the _USS Seahawk _is murdered, along with all of the crew."

Sulu swallowed heavily, unable to keep his mouth from falling open. Across the bridge, similar reactions were occurring as everyone tried and failed to believe what their communications' officer had jus said.

"But zat is impossible!" Chekov protested. "Zey can't _die_!"

The entire bridge crew exploded into yelling and loud talking as everyone tried to disprove what Uhura had just said.

"But the Captain is down there!" a lieutenant shouted more loudly than the rest. "And the commander, our CMO, and our chief engineer! We can't leave them down there!"

"We have to beam them back up!" someone suggested.

"We can't!" Chekov said. "Ze transporter is inoperable! If we try to beam zem back, zen we could kill them!"

"Lieutenant Uhura must have read the information wrong," someone else said. "She is inexperienced, after all. She hasn't been here that long."

Shocked silence fell over the bridge once more as everyone stared at the person who had spoken. The crew of the _Enterprise_ would withstand a lot of things, but personal attacks on their youthfulness and their intelligence was just _wrong_. And it was common knowledge that Uhura was the best of her class and one of the best communications' officers in Starfleet.

"We will just have to find a way to warn them," Sulu said, deciding a rapid change of subject would best. "We will have to tell them to get out of there."

"But how?" Chekov asked. "Our only form of communication has been when zey were in flying ze Tomcat."

"We can't warn them," Uhura said, shaking her head. "The Captain would try to save everyone. The results of his being a hero could end everything."

"But we can't just let them _die_!" Chekov exploded.

"We're not going to," Sulu said quickly, before things could get ugly. "We can warn the Captain about what is going to happen and tell him not to do anything."

"And how exactly is that going to help?" Uhura challenged. She shook her head. "That would be worse than not telling them at all!"

"We can warn them to get off the ship in any way possible," Sulu said, knowing that before he said it, it was a bad idea. He wondered how the Captain came up with so many crazy ideas that managed to save them all. It was a little insane.

"How exactly are they going to die?" Chekov asked, looking extremely pale. "Maybe we could warn zem to avoid people with kniwes or weapons!"

"It doesn't say," Uhura said, sounding confused as she turned back to her consul. She fiddled with the controls. "It's strange—the information is changing. The words are blurry—it's like the story is being _rewritten_."

"But that's impossible!" someone yelled.

"We have got to get a better word," Sulu muttered under his breath. "Too many things that are impossible are becoming possible."

"So what do we do now?" Chekov asked.

"I guess we wait," Sulu said, sinking back on the captain's chair and feeling useless. "We wait and see what happens."

* * *

Jim climbed out of the cockpit on shaking legs as Spock was carefully lifted out. The world spun around him and dark stars covered his vision. His stomach rolled violently.

"Take it easy, son," an unfamiliar voice murmured.

A hand was placed on his back as Jim closed his eyes. He took a few deep steadying breaths, feeling the shaking in his legs ease as oxygen entered his starving lungs.

"Jim?"

Jim forced his eyes open, recognizing that particular tone of voice. It hinted at impending doom, hypos, or concern.

Jim was convinced that this time, it meant all three. Or maybe just hypos and concern. He wasn't totally sure about the impending doom part. Though knowing him, it would happen. It seemed inevitable.

"Is Spock going to be okay?" he asked.

Doctor McCoy glanced at Spock, who was now being put on a stretcher. The Vulcan looked even worse now than he had in the cockpit. On the plus side, it appeared no one noticed the fact that he was spewing green blood or had pointy ears.

"He'll be fine," McCoy said. "Once he wakes up."

Jim nodded, feeling exhausted and bruised. He yawned, stretching his stiff limbs.

"Are you okay?" Doctor McCoy asked.

Jim blinked before nodding. "Yeah, I'm fine," he said, disliking the sharp eye his friend had on him.

"Right," McCoy said in a disbelieving voice. "You should come down to sick bay to get checked out. God knows what sort of seemingly small things will blow up into huge life-threatening things with you in this timeline."

He all but whispered the last three words, glancing around anxiously. Jim looked around too, more to find out what was going on than out of fear of being discovered.

"What have I missed?" he asked. He felt as though he had been away for ages, not half an hour.

McCoy was about to answer, but the attendants carrying Spock called for his help. McCoy swore a couple of times before dashing across the flight deck to check on Spock.

"Kirk!"

Jim looked away from his friends to the CAG, who was standing a couple of yards away with his arms crossed. Jim mentally sighed.

_Here comes the impending doom_, he thought as he slowly began to make his way over to the CAG.

"Sir?" Jim asked, standing at attention.

"Come with me," the CAG said. "We need to talk."

* * *

Scotty hummed tunelessly as he fiddled with the wiring in front of him. Strictly speaking, he wasn't supposed to be in this particular room. Then again, strictly speaking, he wasn't exactly supposed to be in this particular time period. But he was working on a solution to that. As fascinated as he was with the whole 20th century engineering, he would give anything to be back onboard the _Enterprise_.

"I do love that ship," he murmured, glancing up at the steel ceiling. "Not you. Though you are a mighty fine specimen indeed. Maybe if we had more time together…"

A spark shocked his fingers. Swearing, Scotty glared at the wires, daring them to do that again.

That's when he noticed the rapidly descending glowing red numbers.

"God have mercy on us all," he whispered.

* * *

Something itched at the back of Jim's mind as he and the CAG walked through the ship. The CAG was prattling on about something that was probably important, but hopefully wouldn't matter in the long run.

There was something about the entire incident that just took place that bugged him. Something about the airplane, the weaponry, and the fact that no one seemed to notice Spock's overall alien appearance just seemed a little too strange. A little too coincidental.

And when had anything ever been a coincidence?

Okay, there was that one time in the bar where he touched Uhura… but that was beside the point.

"Kirk?"

Jim blinked, feeling once again as though he had just missed something important. He had that feeling a lot through the Academy years—he would start daydreaming about being onboard a starship or who he was going to have fun with that night… not that it mattered…

"Sorry," he said. "It's been a long day."

The CAG let out a knowing chuckle. "That it has," he said. "But what I'm trying to tell you is that you're being promoted to lieutenant commander, son."

Jim stared, feeling his mouth drop open.

_This cannot be happening_, he thought, all thoughts of the _Enterprise_ and the twenty-third century going out of his head.

"What?" he asked.

"You're being promoted," the CAG said. "Your brilliant flying and your ability to keep calm in a situation like the one today impressed all of the right people. They think you're a little young, but they want to promote you."

"You have got to be kidding me," Jim said, shocked. "That—that's _impossible_."

_Seriously_, he thought, _I have to find a better word_.

"I know it's early," the CAG said. "But I wouldn't be promoting you if I didn't think you were ready for the responsibility. At this rate, you'll become the youngest captain in Naval history."

Before Jim had the chance to respond to the irony of that particular statement, a loud scream filled the silence, followed by a klaxon alarm.

"Damn it, that's coming from the bridge," the CAG said. He glanced at Jim. "C'mon."

_Like I thought_, Jim growled internally. _Impending doom. I can't escape it_.


	17. Tomorrow is Yesterday Chapter 8

**Author's Note: So originally, this was going to be two separate updates, but then I realized that one chapter was going to be two pages (which was completely unacceptable) and the other one was going to be only three pages (which was also completely unacceptable). So I combined this chapter and the chapter that originally was supposed to follow it and linked them together. The original two chapters both ended on some pretty big cliffhangers, but now… most of them have been somewhat explained. **

**Author's Note 2: All of the main characters that wound up on the ship are in this chapter. The **_**Enterprise**_** may or may not make an appearance in the next chapter… but we'll see. The next chapter is finally (I know, 8 chapters later) getting to the point of this arc. **

**Author's Note 3: This arc originally wasn't supposed to be all that important to the story… but then I came up with a whole new plot for this story and this one is going to be one of the most important arcs in the story. You'll eventually find out why.**

**Author's Note 4: Spock might seem a little out of character in this... okay _extremely _out of character, but ... I personally like him in this chapter. As for the ending and some of the questions that were posed after chapter 6... there will be explanations to all of that. Eventually. Before the end of this arc.**

**Author's Note 5: I know, I said I'd only be updating on Sundays, but I'm going out of town (again) this weekend and will not be able to update (again). So, I'm updating now as a bonus treat. Enjoy!**

**Thanks for reading and reviewing!**

**

* * *

**

The Voyages of the USS Enterprise

**Arc 2: **_Tomorrow is Yesterday_

**Summary of arc: **During a routine patrol mission, the _Enterprise_ gets sucked into the sun's gravitational pull. While trying to break free, it accidentally gets sent back to the year 1995, where space travel is in the far distant future and the countries on Earth are still heavily divided. Due to a transporter malfunction, Jim, Spock, Doctor McCoy and Scotty are beamed down aboard a naval aircraft carrier called the _USS Seahawk_. In order to avoid detection, the four must join the crew and become Naval officers. However, this proves difficult when the captain of the ship is murdered and JAG officers are called onboard the _Seahawk_ to investigate.

**

* * *

**

Chapter 8: It's All About Perception

McCoy was too intent on fixing Spock's head wound to really notice the lack of inquiries about Spock's strange appearance. No one commenting about the green blood or the pointy ears or the weird placement of the heart should have struck the doctor as odd. It should have made him realize that there was something very, very wrong with the timeline.

But, as per most of the time when he was working, he failed to notice very little about the world around him. But, also per usual, he did not fail to notice the blaring klaxon alarms, nor the frantic voice over the ship wide intercom declaring that the Captain and first officer of the _Seahawk_ had been murdered.

"Damn it, Jim," he growled as he finished taping the bandage to Spock's wound. "Why do these things always happen when you're around?"

"I do not believe the Captain is to blame for this," a very soft voice said.

McCoy blinked, startled when he saw Spock's eyes open and staring at him with a raised eyebrow.

"He's always to blame," McCoy responded, taking a couple of steps away and pretending to tidy his work station. "Even if it's not his fault."

"There is no logic behind your statement," Spock said, sitting up. He was quiet for moment. "Where is the Captain now?"

"Haven't you heard?"

McCoy and Spock turned toward the owner of the voice, a young man who bore the lowly rank of seaman.

"Heard what?" McCoy asked, momentarily confused.

"The Captain has been murdered," the man—_boy_, McCoy thought—said. He looked scared. "It's all over the intercoms."

"I heard _that_," McCoy snapped.

"Doctor," Spock said, sounding slightly… perturbed. McCoy glanced at him.

"What?"

Before Spock had the chance to respond, the sick bay commander stormed into the room.

"McCoy! Finish patching up that RIO and come to the bridge with me immediately! The CAG has issued general warning 2 and is temporarily in charge of the _Seahawk_! I need you to help me determine cause of death!" he ordered.

"Yes sir!" McCoy said instantly. He looked back to Spock. "Are you going to be okay?"

Spock still looked slightly confused, but McCoy had the distinct feeling it had absolutely nothing to do with the head wound he had received. Though there was the off chance he was completely wrong and Spock was about to suffer a severe brain hemorrhage, but the odds of that happening were very low.

"I am fine," Spock said. He blinked. "I will accompany you to the bridge."

"I am sorry, Lieutenant," the commander said before McCoy could speak. "Authorized personnel on the bridge only. You do not have that clearance. You will remain either here or in your quarters until this situation is under control."

Spock looked noticeably unhappy about this, but McCoy wasn't in a position to argue. He wasn't like Jim, who could willingly undermine anyone's authority and come away scot free.

"Lieutenant McCoy," the commander snapped, sounding irritated, anxious, and scared all at the same time.

"Coming, sir," McCoy said instantly.

* * *

Jim stared around the silent bridge of the _Seahawk_, feeling a wave of shock crash over him.

_How could this happen_? he wondered. _How could this happen_ here? _And now, of all times_?

"I don't believe this," the CAG muttered, staring around the deserted bridge with an equal expression of shock on his face. "The Captain and the first officer murdered right in front of everyone on the bridge."

"It's insane," Jim agreed, unable to fully mask the astonishment in his voice. "How is this even possible?"

"It looks like they were shot," the CAG said, glancing down at the body of the Captain. "But there's no blood or bullet holes."

"I believe that's where we step in."

Jim turned, feeling relieved when he saw McCoy following the sick bay commander onto the bridge. If the doctor was here, that meant Spock was okay.

"How long will it be until we know cause of death?" the CAG asked as the sick bay commander headed toward the body of the Captain.

"I'm not sure," the commander replied, kneeling down beside the body. He touched the man's hand and murmured something that Jim didn't quite catch.

"Spock is going to be okay," McCoy whispered.

Jim started, not realizing that his friend had come up to stand beside him. He glanced briefly at the older man, unable to fully take his eyes off the horror in front of him.

"Good," Jim whispered back. He gestured toward the bodies. "What do you think did this?"

"I don't know," McCoy admitted. "Could be a number of things."

"That's strange," the sick bay commander said, troubled. He looked up. "McCoy, come take a look at this. CAG, you should too."

Jim crossed his arms uncomfortably, feeling useless as he watched his friend and the CAG walk cautiously over to the body.

"That looks like a burn," the CAG said, puzzled.

"It came from a highly amplified laser beam," the sick bay commander said. "Like the ones we use for diamonds."

"But why is it on the Captain?" the CAG asked.

"I don't know," the sick bay commander admitted. "But that is definitely the cause of death."

Jim watched Doctor McCoy's face carefully, not liking the look of stunned horror that was on the other man's face as he examined the burn mark.

"What is it?" Jim asked.

McCoy looked up, his eyes wide with puzzlement and something else. He glanced at the sick bay commander and the CAG, both too intent in their discussion about the mark to notice.

Jim walked over to Doctor McCoy, understanding that whatever had his friend spooked was definitely not something anyone from this timeline should be overhearing.

"What?" he asked more quietly.

"It's from a phaser," McCoy whispered. "The cause of death is from phaser fire."

* * *

Scotty was a brilliant engineer. There was no denying the fact. He had transformed the _Enterprise_ from a simple ship to a powerful, sexy starship that prowled through the stars with ease.

But he was no bomb expert. He could do very little when it came to bombs, outside of identifying them. Removal of devices was generally left to either Kirk, who had a scary amount of bomb removal knowledge, or Chekov, who apparently almost become a bomb squad technician for the private sector before switching over to Starfleet.

Yes, Scotty could probably figure out the inner workings of the bomb, improve it so it made more of an explosion, rewire the entire thing so it would not only explode the room, but the entire universe as well… but he couldn't stop it. Well, he could probably figure out a way, but definitely not within the 90 seconds he had left before the entire ship went kablewie. With the luck of the _Enterprise_ behind him, it would take him 91 seconds, and that would be 1 second too long for the _Seahawk_.

"Mr. Scott."

Scotty jumped, swearing rather violently when sparks flew across his hand, stinging his skin. He turned, breathing a slight sigh of relief when he saw Spock standing behind him.

"Mr. Spock," he replied. "It isn't safe here. We have to evacuate the ship. There's a bomb, getting ready to explode."

"There is no time to evacuate the ship," Spock said. "The Captain has been murdered."

Scotty blanched. "But that—that's _impossible_!"

"While the idea may be highly improbable, very few things are actually impossible," Spock said.

"Yeah, yeah, I 'eard that bafore," Scotty muttered. "Would you mind gettin' to the part where we fix the ship?"

"Move aside, Mr. Scott," Spock said.

Scotty did as Spock said, watching over the Vulcan's shoulder as he deftly removed one or two of the wires and retied some of the others.

"I don't believe it!" Scotty exclaimed. "I don't bloody well believe it! You are a genius!"

"I am a Vulcan," Spock said, standing up. The countdown stopped. "I believe I have temporarily fixed the problem."

"Hopefully your temporary fixes are better than the Captain's," Scotty grumbled.

"Indeed, they usually are," Spock said with something akin to a smirk on his face.

"What are you doing down here anyway?" Scotty asked, wanting to change the subject. It was starting to get a little strange. "I thought you'd be in sick bay."

"My wounds have healed," Spock said. "And I wished to speak with you."

"Bout what?" Scotty demanded, bemused. What had he done? Outside of the perception filters he had rigged up to keep people from becoming curious about Spock's overall alien appearance and the hacking into the data files of the Navy (which was way too easy), he had done nothing.

"The events that have occurred here today should not have happened," Spock said, staring off into space. "I fear that we have upset the constraints of time and thus have caused a butterfly effect."

"Are you saying that we won't exist in the future?" Scotty asked.

"No," Spock said, shaking his head. Scotty was surprised. Spock never shook his head. It was a human thing to do.

"I may have a PhD in relativistic physics, but that does not mean I know what you are talking about," Scotty said.

"The plane that attacked the F-14 jet the Captain and I were flying today was not a ship of this century," Spock said gravely.

Scotty stared. "Er, what?"

"The plane was from a different time period," Spock said. "But it was not anything from our own time line. It was from a different timeline all together. And now, with the _Seahawk_ captain and first officer dead, the events that should have happened today did not. History and time itself have been changed."

"There haven't been any lightning storms lately, have there?" Scotty asked.

* * *

McCoy scowled at the body of the dead captain in front of him, trying to find answers.

"You're no help at all," he muttered to the dead person.

There was a slight cough coming from the door to the morgue. Doctor McCoy looked up, entirely unsurprised to find Jim leaning against the door, looking both exhausted and energized at the same time.

"Hey," Jim said, sounding as though he had just run a marathon. "Still talking to the dead people, I take it?"

There was something resembling a smile on his face, but it faded quickly as McCoy sighed heavily.

"It doesn't make any sense," he said. "I've seen phaser burns before and this one is definitely a phaser burn, but what the hell is it doing here? In this century?"

"I don't know," Jim said seriously, walking into the room. "It makes about as much sense as everything else that has been happening around here."

"What?" McCoy questioned, confused.

"I just talked to Spock," Jim replied. "He confirmed what I've been thinking since we got back from that training mission."

There was a brief silence as Jim stared moodily at the body in front of him, as if daring it to say something.

"Good god, man, I'm a _doctor_, not a mind reader," McCoy finally growled when it became apparent Jim wasn't going to continue. "What were you thinking?"

"The plane that attacked us," Jim said, sitting down on the floor and leaning his head against the table leg. "It's weapons weren't from this century. Spock seems to think they aren't even from this timeline, or if they are, then they are from way beyond us."

"Damn it," McCoy said.

"Exactly," Jim said, yawning and stretching. "But that's not the only good news."

"You call that good news?" McCoy muttered.

"JAG lawyers are en route to the _Seahawk_," Jim said, looking slightly anxious now. "They'll be here in about an hour to investigate the murders."

"Well, this keeps getting better and better," McCoy growled.

"Don't shoot the messenger," Jim said, throwing up one hand in surrender. "Spock and Scotty are working on a perception filter to make it seem like the Captain and the first officer died of a heart attack. Though it's going to be complicated, seeing as the sick bay commander saw the burn marks and declared it cause of death."

"What in the name of god is a perception filter?" McCoy demanded, ignoring the rest of what Jim had just said.

"It's pretty old-school technology," Jim said. "The filters are used to make people see something entirely different than what is in front of them. Scotty has been working on them since we wound up here."

"That damn Scott is a freaking genius," McCoy grumbled. "I take it he also hacked into the records, too."

"Yep. And helped stop a bomb from detonating," Jim said. McCoy stared as Jim continued, "I'm going to have to give him a pay raise at this rate. And maybe a promotion, if he keeps saving our asses."

"So what are we going to do now?" McCoy asked.

"There's not much we can do," Jim said, standing up. He grunted. "Have to stop getting in airplanes. Especially ones that almost get shot down."

"Need anything?" McCoy asked, feeling as though he was missing something vitally important.

Jim shook his head. "I'll be fine," he said. "Just a few bruises. And lack of sleep catching up to me."

"Idiot," McCoy muttered. "One of these days you're going to end up dying of sleep deprivation."

"Nah," Jim said, smirking. "Not when I have you around to hypo me to sleep every time I get close."

Before McCoy had the chance to respond, Jim turned and left. It was only afterward that McCoy realized that Jim had been lying about his injuries.

"Damn it, Jim," McCoy murmured to the silent morgue. "You're going to get yourself killed."


	18. Tomorrow is Yesterday Chapter 9

**Author's Note: Holy crap. It's a Sunday and there's an update to one of this idiot author's stories! Watch out! The world is going to end!**

**Author's Note 2: Yeah. I officially suck at updating. I apologize. A lot. And promise to have something resembling another update up soon (maybe a one-shot or two as well). **

**Author's Note 3: If you want to read the whole story behind my tragic lack of updates, feel free to read my profile. It's highly entertaining to say the least. **

**Author's Note 4: As you have undoubtedly noticed, I picked a new penname. All of the ones I _wanted_ were already taken (seriously, WTH?) so I came up with a brand new one that I thought was fitting. **

**Author's Note 5: There _will_ be another update before a three month time period has passed. This arc _will_ be finished. This story _does _actually have a plot line that I intend on finishing. There will possibly be new Star Trek 09 stories coming soon. I promise. **

**

* * *

**

The Voyages of the USS Enterprise

**Arc 2: **_Tomorrow is Yesterday_

**Summary of arc: **During a routine patrol mission, the _Enterprise_ gets sucked into the sun's gravitational pull. While trying to break free, it accidentally gets sent back to the year 1995, where space travel is in the far distant future and the countries on Earth are still heavily divided. Due to a transporter malfunction, Jim, Spock, Doctor McCoy and Scotty are beamed down aboard a naval aircraft carrier called the _USS Seahawk_. In order to avoid detection, the four must join the crew and become Naval officers. However, this proves difficult when the captain of the ship is murdered and JAG officers are called onboard the _Seahawk_ to investigate.

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 9: The Calm Before the Storm**

Scotty glared at the wires again as they started beeping once more. It was the third time in the past hour that the clock on the bomb had bypassed whatever fix Spock had put on it and the whole thing was starting to get on the engineer's nerves.

"Would ye just blow up already and be done with it?" he snapped as he fiddled with the wires. The beeping stopped and the numbers reset themselves.

Sighing heavily, Scotty picked up the communicator he had been working on. He had found the piece of twenty-third century technology in his pocket moments after he was beamed onboard the _Seahawk_. The signal was extremely low, probably given the fact that it hadn't been turned off in close to two weeks, but Scotty was working out a way to use what power the _Seahawk_ had to power up the communicator.

Scotty used the outdated screwdriver and pliers, swearing when sparks flew across the room.

_"I… they're all right,"_ a voice that sounded distinctly like Uhura's said through the communicator.

Scotty nearly dropped the device in surprise.

_"Ze keptin is with zhem,"_ Chekov said. _"Zey will be fine."_

"Lieutenant?" Scotty asked.

There was a shocked exclamation from the device.

_"Scotty?"_ Uhura demanded in surprise

"It's good to hear your voice, lass," Scotty said, breathing a sigh of relief. Finally, something had gone right that day.

_"What's happening down there?"_ Uhura asked. _"Is everyone okay? Is Spock alive?"_

"Tha Commander is just fine," Scotty said. "Just a wee bit bruised, that's all."

_"What's happening?"_ Sulu asked.

"The captain and the first commander of the _Seahawk_ have been murdered," Scotty admitted.

There was a grumbling coming from the communicator, leading Scotty to believe that there was something happening up there.

_"Who's in charge now?"_ Sulu wanted to know.

"Well, there is this man called the CAG who's acting captain," Scotty said. "And the Captain is now the first officer."

There was a long pause.

_"Anyone who says this is impossible will be thrown off the bridge,"_ Sulu declared, breaking the silence.

_"You're kidding, Scotty,"_ Uhura said at the same time.

"Nope," Scotty replied.

_"_Kirk_ is the first officer of the _Seahawk?"

"Aye," Scotty said. "He is the youngest one in history."

_"I don't believe this," _Sulu muttered.

_"Sulu,"_ Uhura said, her voice pointed. _"We have more pressing things to worry about then the—Kirk."_

Scotty's interest piqued.

"What's happenin' up there?" he demanded. "Is somethin' wrong with ma ship?"

_"No, not it's the _Enterprise_,"_ Uhura said. _"It's the _Seahawk. _There's going to be something bad happening—soon."_

"What sortae bad?"

_"The crew of the _Seahawk _is going to die_," Uhura said grimly. _"And there is nothing you can do to stop it."_

There was a beeping sound that started, higher and faster than before. Scotty turned, his eyes widening in horror as he spotted the second bomb.

"All of this without decent sandwiches," Scotty muttered.

* * *

Jim was bored, restless, and hurting all over as he sat at the control station. He had severely bruised—if not cracked—ribs, his knee throbbed, and his head was pounding.

"Damn it," he muttered as he pressed another button. There was still no change on the screen. He wasn't sure what was supposed to be happening, but he was fairly certain the computer wasn't supposed to stay black like this.

"JAG on the bridge!"

Jim jumped to his feet, swearing inwardly as the bridge spun around him A tall, dark haired man with bright blue eyes and a short, blonde hair woman with a lot of freckles stood behind the CAG, both with solemn expressions on their faces. Neither one was much older than Jim.

"As you were," the CAG barked to the bridge crew. He motioned for Jim to join him and the JAG members in the corner.

"I'm Lieutenant Rabb, this is my partner, Lieutenant JG Austen," the man said as Jim approached. "We're here to investigate the murders."

"Glad to turn it over to you, Rabb," the CAG said. "We'll want to get to the bottom of this soon. Lieutenant Commander Kirk will show you to sick bay so you can talk to the CMO."

Lieutenant Rabb started as he glanced at Kirk, obviously noticing the fact that they were about the same age. He raised an eyebrow.

_A couple of centuries from now, I'm the _Captain, Jim thought.

They turned to leave.

"When you're done in sick bay, please report back here," the CAG said. He shot a pointed look at Lieutenant Rabb. "Kirk, you and Rabb are going to take a flight to where you were attacked so he can get a better handle of the situation."

"Sir?" Jim asked, confused. It wasn't in Naval regulations for unauthorized personnel to take flights in F-14s. Not that Jim was normally one for regulations, but he didn't want to risk getting attacked in the air again.

"Rabb used to be an aviator himself," the CAG explained. "He'll be fine as your RIO. You're dismissed."

* * *

Doctor McCoy was bored. He couldn't do anything else with the bodies in the morgue without his proper equipment and there were no injuries to be attended to for once. Spock, who had been required to come in for a check up two hours ago, had decided that since he was a Vulcan, he could ignore such orders and thus proceeded to disappear to wherever it was Scotty was hiding out.

There was a knock on the door, breaking Doctor McCoy from his plans to go find Spock and drag his pretentious logical ass to sick bay. He glanced up, not at all surprised to find Jim leaning casually against the sick bay doors with two shadows.

"Hey, Bones," Jim said.

Was Doctor McCoy the only one who noticed the hint of exhaustion in Kirk's voice?

"You still need your check-up," he growled.

"I'm _fine_, Bones," Jim said with a roll of his eyes. "Besides, there's no time. After this, I've got to go fly again."

"Fly my ass," Doctor McCoy grunted. He turned to the others behind Jim. "What do you guys want?"

"These are Lieutenants Rabb and Austen," Jim said, interrupting whatever the tall, dark haired man was about to say. "JAG lawyers from DC. They're here to talk to the CMO about what happened."

As if Doctor McCoy knew anything about JAG lawyers. The profession had died out well before Starfleet's time. He wasn't sure why, but then again, he was a doctor, not a history professor.

"The CMO is in his office," Doctor McCoy informed them. "He's filling out reports."

"Right this way," Jim said.

"They can find it on their own," Doctor McCoy said pointedly. "You still need to get checked out."

"_Bones_," Jim whined.

"It's Naval regulations that all aviators report to their doctors after flights," the tall dark haired man—_Rabb_, Doctor McCoy's brain supplied—said.

"And I have the power to ground you until you comply," McCoy added.

Jim glared at both of them. "All right," he sighed. "But the second you bring out the _needles_, I'm leaving."

"You're an infant," Doctor McCoy muttered.

"You're a sadist," Jim returned as the two JAG officers took their leave and headed to the CMO's office. "Bones, really, I'm fine."

"I'm the one with the medical degree," Doctor McCoy pointed out. "I'm the one who gets to declare that. Now take off your shirt."

"You know, whether you ground me or not, I'm still going on that flight,' Jim said conversationally, wincing as he pulled off his khaki colored shirt.

"Not if I sedate you, you're not," Doctor McCoy retorted, swearing as he saw the multiple bruises on Jim's torso. "What the hell happened out there?"

Jim shrugged. McCoy could tell the motion hurt like hell.

"You've got whiplash," the doctor informed him. "As well as some serious bruised, if not cracked ribs. I'm gonna have to x-ray them."

"Can't it wait?" Jim asked as the JAG officers returned from the CMO's office. "I promise, I'll come straight back here after the flight."

"Like hell you will," Doctor McCoy muttered. He sighed and handed Jim some generic pain killers that the idiot shouldn't have a reaction to. "Take these. They'll help. And so help me God, if you crash that plane or get into any more dogfights, you're grounded until you die."

"Well, then, I'll be on my best behavior!" Jim said cheerfully, pulling his shirt back on just as the JAG officers reached them.

McCoy sighed. _Idiot_, he thought.


	19. Tomorrow is Yesterday Chapter 10

**Author's Note: What's this you ask? _Two_ updates in one day? To a story that hasn't been updated in _three months_? Holy mackrel! Maybe the author has returned to FanFiction after all!**

**Author's Note 2: Everyone except for the _Enterprise_ is in this chapter, though I'm not sure how well I did portraying Spock. I really officially hate writing him. But oh well. **

**Author's Note 3: There probably won't be a third update today... but there might be one tomorrow. I don't know.**

**Read and review! I thrive on reviews. Really. I do. **

**

* * *

**

The Voyages of the USS Enterprise

**Arc 2: **_Tomorrow is Yesterday_

**Summary of arc: **During a routine patrol mission, the _Enterprise_ gets sucked into the sun's gravitational pull. While trying to break free, it accidentally gets sent back to the year 1995, where space travel is in the far distant future and the countries on Earth are still heavily divided. Due to a transporter malfunction, Jim, Spock, Doctor McCoy and Scotty are beamed down aboard a naval aircraft carrier called the _USS Seahawk_. In order to avoid detection, the four must join the crew and become Naval officers. However, this proves difficult when the captain of the ship is murdered and JAG officers are called onboard the _Seahawk_ to investigate.

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 10: Pieces of the Puzzle**

The sounds of roaring engines and screeching tires filled Jim's ears as he walked onto the flight deck, decked out in his flight suit and carrying his helmet. Behind him was Lieutenant Rabb, decked out in a similar outfit, conversing quietly with Lieutenant Austen. Whatever the CMO had told them about the deaths of the Captain and First Officer had apparently intrigued them—they had been talking nonstop ever since about it.

"Commander Kirk!"

Jim started at the sound of his name being called by the angry air boss, Lieutenant Commander Rice. He had already heard horror stories from Bones about the man's wrath and how the commander had threatened both Scotty and Bones with court martial.

"Sir?" Jim asked as the air boss closed the distance between them.

"You destroy another one of my Tomcats and I will personally make sure you're grounded for the rest of your naval career," Rice growled. "You read me?"

Jim rolled his eyes. "Is that any way to talk to a commanding officer?" he asked jovially.

Commander Rice glared at him. "Your promotion isn't going to last," he snapped. "I'll see to that myself."

Before Jim had the chance to reply, Lieutenant Rabb interrupted them.

"Is there a problem here, gentlemen?" he asked.

"Nope," Jim said easily, causing Commander Rice to shoot daggers at him with his eyes. "We should go."

Rabb looked slightly uneasy, but didn't say anything else. Commander Rice muttered incoherently in a rant about idiots that would have done even Doctor McCoy proud.

"What was that all about?" Rabb asked as they approached their F-14 Tomcat.

"Nothing," Jim said with a shrug. He winced—his shoulders and neck were still sore from all of the banging around he had done the last time had flown.

"Right," Rabb snorted. "And the Captain and First Officer died of natural causes."

"Heart attacks are known to be natural causes," Jim said lightly.

"So you really expect me to believe that the Captain and First Officer, both of whom passed their physical _two days ago_ with flying colors, both dropped dead of a heart attack _on the exact same day_," Rabb said. "You must think I'm an idiot."

"I think you're a lawyer," Jim replied. "And you're looking for someone to call out for murdering the Captain and First Officer because you used to be onboard this ship and don't want to believe that two of the people you respected the most are dead. You think 'they had to be murdered' because you don't accept the fact that it is possible for men well into their fifties, who should have retired from active duty long ago, could have heart attacks."

"That's not it at all," Rabb argued. "It's one thing for one of them to have a heart attack—but it's an another thing altogether for both of them to have heart attacks on the same day at the exact same time without showing any symptoms whatsoever."

"Who said they didn't show any symptoms?" Jim demanded.

"The CMO," Rabb replied. "If you know something, you might want to tell me, or I might have to arrest you for concealing evidence."

"Look, all I know is that two days after I got here, I get nearly blasted out of the sky, the Captain and First Officer die, I get promoted to Lieutenant Commander, and then suddenly, I'm first officer of the _Seahawk_," Jim said.

"That's a mighty fine coincidence," Rabb commented.

"I don't believe in coincidences," Jim muttered as he mounted the ladder to the plane. He shoved his helmet on his head, but he still heard Rabb's reply.

"Neither do I."

* * *

Spock observed the scene before him with a feeling of intense dissatisfaction. There were too many variables and too many unknowns to make a logical conclusion as to why there were not one, not two, but a series of six different bombs set throughout the layout of the _USS Seahawk_, all set to go off at different periods of time over the next twenty-four hours.

Mr. Scott had found the first two in the communications room. Acting on a logical assumption, Spock had searched the lower decks of the _Seahawk _and found a total of four more explosives set to detonate within hours of each other.

They were now both in the communications room, trying to determine the appropriate actions to take next.

"Did Lieutenant Uhura mention how the _Seahawk_'s crew would die?" Spock asked.

Mr. Scott looked at him, a variety of unreadable emotions crossing his face. Spock became mildly irritated with this—he had asked a simple question that did not require a strenuous amount of thought.

"No, she did not," Mr. Scott said at last.

"How illogical," Spock murmured. "If she wished to inform of us this situation, it would have been appropriate to include how exactly the situation unfolded so we could prepare for it."

Mr. Scott stared at him with a mixture of annoyance, surprise, and disbelief.

"Did you just insult the Lieutenant?"

"On the contrary, Mr. Scott, I am merely stating what the Lieutenant did that was dissatisfying," Spock said. He looked at the timer behind Mr. Scott and noticed with faint annoyance that they had mere hours left before it detonated.

"I believe we need to locate the Captain," Spock said at last.

While it was an illogical thought—the Captain had no training in bomb disarming that Spock was aware of—Spock felt that the Captain should be informed of the situation at hand.

"Aye," Mr. Scott agreed.

* * *

The flight was a quiet one. Neither Rabb nor Jim felt the need to say anything other than to occasionally alert the _Seahawk_ as to where they were. The further into the flight they got, the more convinced Jim became that they weren't going to see anything.

No sooner had the thought crossed his mind, a flash of black caught his eye.

"Did you see that?" Rabb asked, surprise coloring his voice.

"Yeah," Jim said, feeling as though he had just been struck by lightning. He recognized the plane from Earth's history, but it wasn't supposed to be around for another twenty years at least. It was the first of the space planes developed by humans that made space exploration possible.

"Shit," Rabb shouted. "They're locking missiles on us!"

_Damn it all_, Jim thought, instantly pulling the F-14 into a sharp, banked turn to avoid the missiles. He rolled the plane and pressed a few buttons, trying to urge the plane to a faster speed. On some level, Jim knew it was useless—the plane that was trying to blast them from the sky was more advanced than anything anyone in this era had ever seen—but he flat out refused to give up.

"Incoming at two o'clock!" Rabb yelled.

Jim swore under his breath. "Get on the horn to the _Seahawk_. Tell them what's going on and see if we can get some back up!"

Before Rabb had the chance to carry out the order, there was a flash of lightning and the plane disappeared.

_What the hell?_ Jim wondered. He glanced in his mirror at Rabb, who wore the same stunned expression on his face.

"_Commander Kirk, this is _Seahawk_, please come in._"

Both Jim and Rabb started at the sudden, static-filled voice of the _Seahawk's_ communications officer.

Jim took a deep, shaky breath as he reached for the radio. What the hell was that plane? And what was the lightning?

"Kirk here. What's the situation, lieutenant?"

"_You are ordered back to the _Seahawk_. The CAG has been poisoned._" The communications officer sounded as freaked out as Jim felt.

"Repeat that," Jim ordered, unable to keep the shock out of his voice.

"_The CAG has been poisoned_," the communications officer said. "_As of now, you are acting captain of the _Seahawk_ and your presence is needed immediately._"

* * *

Doctor McCoy had had enough. He had enough with the outdated medicine, the damn airplanes that were constantly taking off, the smell of the damn ship, the rocking of the damn ship, and god damn it if he hadn't had enough of the mind boggling mystery of the phaser burns on the captain and first officer.

But what really took the cake was the most recent incident—the poisoning of the CAG. For one, the poisoning meant that Jim was captain of the _Seahawk_. And damn it, that shouldn't have happened _again._ Wasn't once enough for a life time? For another, there was no way in hell that the poison had come from this time period, let alone this time line. It wasn't a poison Doctor McCoy had ever seen—and that was saying something after the recent Babel mission.

"Damn it, Jim," he growled to the near-empty sick bay. The only bed that was occupied was the one the CAG was in—he had fortunately survived the poisoning incident.

It wasn't Jim's fault—not by a long shot—but these things always happened around Jim. No matter if it was two hundred years before Jim Kirk was even _thought_ of, bad things seemed to surround him. First it was the transporter accident that nearly drowned him, then it was the murders of the captain and the first officer accompanied by the near-destruction of the plane Jim had been piloting, and now the poisoning of the CAG. Did the universe really hate Jim that much to go after him even in this timeline?

And then it hit Doctor McCoy. He couldn't believe hadn't noticed this before. It couldn't have been a coincidence that all of these things were happening and Jim was the only one benefiting from it.

Someone was setting Jim up.

But who? Who the hell knew who Jim was in this timeline? Who the hell would _want_ to do something like this to Jim _here _of all places when there were plenty of opportunities to do something similar in their own time?

"God damn it all," McCoy muttered.


	20. Tomorrow is Yesterday Chapter 11

**Author's Note: Yeah, yeah, I know. I suck. I promise more frequent updates and then make you guys wait two weeks and then not even bother updating on Sunday (one, because I was kind of passed out, and two, because this chapter wasn't done) and then go and make you guys have two _huge_ cliffhangers. Well, okay, it's one, but it's significant enough for two. And I'm mean enough not to explain that and make you read it. So yes, you can get the rotting fruit and start throwing it at me, but that doesn't mean I don't love you guys for sticking with me thus far and pray you guys will accept my crazy ideas. **

**Author's Note 2: Part of the reason why this chapter is so late is because the first segment of this (which, incidentally, is the shortest) did not want to be written. At all. But I knew in the back of my mind that this chapter wouldn't make sense without it, so I sent it off to my friend, hoping she would help me, and then, two seconds after I sent it to her, sat down and wrote the stupid thing. It's not amazing, but it works. **

**Author's Note 3: The other part of the reason why this chapter is so late is because I know you guys are going to have mixed reactions about one of my plot revelations. Don't say you won't-I know you will. Call it me being psychic and all... but you're either going to be excited or be 'what the hell is she doing now?'. And believe me, a lot more than you think are going to be inclined toward the latter. Trust me. I know these things. I'm the author. I'm certified to say that. But, I will promise you that as confusing and as unoriginal as you might think this is at first, I do have a rather awesome plot line to go along with it. So don't tune out yet. **

**Author's Note 4: I do believe this wins longest chapter of the arc, if not the story so far award. What can I say, this chapter didn't want to end. It was originally going to be even longer, but then it started getting rather complicated. So I chopped it in half and rearranged some things and bam. Chapter. The next chapter will hopefully be up about this same time next week. I know, I keep telling you guys Sundays, but this weekend's prom (SUPER EARLY, I know), and while I'm not going to the actual prom, I do have other things to do this weekend and I am going to be doing after prom, which means staying up late after getting up super early on Saturday, and then there's the whole thing about me helping to clean up after prom for Beta Club hours... so yeah. Don't expect another update on Sunday. Expect it more on Tuesday or something.**

**Author's Note 5 (I apologize for talking so much): Spring break for us is the week after next (SUPER LATE, I know), so maybe there will be a chapter or two then, plus a new arc (cause this one is finally reaching its climax and end! YAY!). I have like... six billion ideas as to where I want the next arc to go. But, more on that later. On with the story!**

**One last thing: Reviews are love!**

* * *

The Voyages of the USS Enterprise

**Arc 2: **_Tomorrow is Yesterday_

**Summary of arc: **During a routine patrol mission, the _Enterprise_ gets sucked into the sun's gravitational pull. While trying to break free, it accidentally gets sent back to the year 1995, where space travel is in the far distant future and the countries on Earth are still heavily divided. Due to a transporter malfunction, Jim, Spock, Doctor McCoy and Scotty are beamed down aboard a naval aircraft carrier called the _USS Seahawk_. In order to avoid detection, the four must join the crew and become Naval officers. However, this proves difficult when the captain of the ship is murdered and JAG officers are called onboard the _Seahawk_ to investigate.

* * *

**Chapter 11: Impossible Revelations**

Jim adjusted the yoke of the plane, righting the westward drift the plane had taken.

"Do you have a plan?" Rabb asked. "Or are you just going to go in there guns blazing and hope to arrest this guy?"

"I always have a plan," Jim said. "You're going to sound the ship wide evacuation alarm and I'm going to go find Commander Rice."

Jim honestly wasn't sure how he had figured out who was responsible for the double homicide and attempted murder. Lieutenant Commander Rice wasn't truly the most obvious suspect—or really one at all from most people's point of view. But Lieutenant Rabb had to go and mention the fact that if Jim hadn't been named First Officer, then Rice would have been Captain by now and then there was the whole thing about Rice not liking Bones and Scotty—though that really wasn't relevant. That was Jim just being petty.

But the more Jim thought about it, the more it seemed to fit. Granted, he knew very little of Commander Rice, but from everything he had learned about the _Seahawk's_ crew during his short time on the bridge, Jim believed that Commander Rice _was_ indeed capable of being from a different century, timeline, and able to murder someone.

Out of everyone on the _Seahawk_, with the exception of Jim's own crew, Commander Rice had the most suspicious record. It stated that he hadn't graduated from the Academy, but had risen through the ranks. It never did state where he had started his Naval career, nor did it state where he had served prior to serving on the _Seahawk_, a ship he had transferred on to as a full Commander. Apparently, he had been demoted after an incident (in a lightning storm) where someone had died on his watch.

Jim was beginning to think that the first death—of another commander who had been in position to become first officer—wasn't an accident.

"As Captain of the _Seahawk_, it's your duty to attend to the crew," Rabb informed him, drawing Jim back to the conversation. "It's regulations."

Jim fought to keep back a snort.

"You keep around me long enough, you'll learn that I never follow regulations," he replied. "Now, don't make me make that a direct order, _Lieutenant_."

* * *

Doctor McCoy ran into Spock and Scotty as he mounted the stairs to the flight deck. Word had just come in that Jim and the JAG lawyer were returning to the _Seahawk_ after they heard the news about the CAG.

"I don't believe the CAG's poisoning and Kirk's being here are coincidences," Doctor McCoy said breathlessly. He had just ran pretty much the length of the entire ship.

Spock looked at him, raising his eyebrow a fraction of an inch in surprise. Doctor McCoy barely registered it.

"Did you hear me? Jim's in trouble!" he insisted. "We have to get off the ship!"

Before Spock had the chance to respond, there was a loud commotion coming from the top of the stairs. Doctor McCoy looked up the stairs, moving out of the way just in time for Lieutenant Commander Rice, Jim, and the JAG lawyer to come racing down the stairs.

"Get out of the way!" the JAG lawyer shouted unnecessarily.

Jim barely paused to shoot Spock and Doctor McCoy a look before he sprinted out of sight.

"I hate this ship," Scotty muttered. "It's too damn exciting."

Doctor McCoy couldn't help but agree as he and Spock took off after Jim.

* * *

Commander Rice was a sneaky bastard, Jim decided as he rounded a corner to find the corridor empty. He had not only come from another century and managed to infiltrate the Navy to become a lieutenant commander, but he had also given Jim the slip and practically disappeared from the ship after being accused with murder.

Jim paused to catch his breath, leaning against the wall for balance. He heard footsteps behind him and straightened, thinking that it was Commander Rice.

It was Doctor McCoy. Jim stared at his friend in momentary surprise.

"Bones, what are you doing here?" he demanded.

"Looking for you," Doctor McCoy replied. "I was going to corner you on the flight deck, but you and that damned lawyer were already chasing after Rice. I take it he's the suspect."

"Yeah," Jim confirmed. He glanced around. "Come with me. We need to talk."

A klaxon alarm filled the air as Jim led Doctor McCoy to an empty room.

_Good_, Jim thought. _It looks like Rabb sounded the alarm. _

"What the hell is going on, Jim?" Doctor McCoy asked the second Jim had closed and locked the door. "Why do you think Commander Rice killed the Captain and First Officer and then tried to kill the CAG?"

"He's the one who has the most to gain," Jim said. "He's the only other commander who is eligible for captaincy."

"Until you came and screwed it all up," Doctor McCoy muttered.

"This time, it wasn't my fault, Bones," Jim replied with a shrug. He glanced around the room, noting that it probably once belonged to a flight deck worker or a cook. It was the basic on-ship bunk, with a bunk bed and latrine in one corner and an unlocked cabinet in the other. There was a faint beeping noise coming from the cabinet.

"What's that noise?" Jim asked, walking cautiously over to the cabinet.

"It's probably one of the six bombs," Doctor McCoy said.

"_Six_?" Jim echoed. "I thought there was only one."

"Scotty found five more while you were flying," Doctor McCoy informed him. "By the way, did you see anything interesting?"

"Just the usual plane disappearing in a flash of lightning," Jim said with a shrug, ignoring the surprised look on Doctor McCoy's face. He pulled the cabinet open, swearing illustriously when he saw the complicated bomb on the inside.

"What?" Doctor McCoy demanded.

"This bomb is definitely not from this century," Jim said. "Or from our century. Or from any century in our timeline that we know of."

"And you would know that how?" Doctor McCoy asked acerbically.

"I spent a summer learning how to diffuse bombs for fun," Jim rejoined acidly. "I have a minor in weapons technology."

"Can you diffuse this one?"

Jim glanced at the bizarre looking piece of technology in front of him, frowning. It was a small, glass orb with a holographic counter on one surface. The glass revealed a very intricate series of wires, all of which were connected to a chain of circuit boards and plugs.

"I could try," Jim said at last. "But I could very well end up blowing us up two hours sooner than scheduled."

"Then what should we do?" Doctor McCoy wanted to know.

"Rabb is working on getting everyone off the ship," Jim said, studying the bomb with a scowl. "I want you and Spock to contact the _Enterprise_ and tell them what's going on. Tell them to try to beam Scotty up first."

"Last I heard the transporter is inoperable," Doctor McCoy said.

"Then have Scotty tell them how to fix it. Tell him to talk to Chekov and Sulu; those two can figure it out," Jim ordered. "And when you're done with that, help Rabb get everyone off the ship."

"What are you going to do?" Doctor McCoy asked.

Jim grinned. "Don't worry about it," he said.

"Don't worry about it?" Doctor McCoy echoed in disbelief, causing Jim's grin to widen. "Are you serious?"

"I'm always serious, Bones!" Jim said. Sobering slightly, he added, "I'll be fine. Now go find Spock and play nice."

Doctor McCoy looked like he wanted to say something else, but Jim refused to listen. He gave his friend a gentle shove toward the door.

"If you hurt yourself, I'm not cleaning it up," Doctor McCoy informed him.

"Yeah, yeah," Jim said lightly. "Go."

Doctor McCoy shot him one last, slightly accusatory glance before walking out the door. Jim sighed in relief as he turned to face the man who now stood behind him.

"You really need to learn how to be stealthy," he told Commander Rice. "I heard your breathing in the bathroom from two doors away."

"It was careless of you to bring your _friend_ in here," Commander Rice said, leaning casually against the wall. It was the first time Jim had seen him up close without his flight deck gear on. He had a long, narrow face with thick features. His eyes were dark brown, as was his hair, which was abnormally long for a US Naval Officer.

"Who are you?" Jim demanded.

"You know very well who I am," Commander Rice said, crossing his arms.

"Bull shit," Jim retorted.

"We have played this game an uncountable number of times in the past," Rice said, his voice changing into a smooth, deep tenor. "And it still never ceases to amaze me how _unobservant _you are."

"Just humor me," Jim said, feeling on edge. There was something about that voice that sounded distantly familiar. "Since you know, I'm unobservant and all. Who are you?"

"I am Kahn."

* * *

Doctor McCoy ran into the communications room, breathing heavily from running the entire length of the ship for a second time. He entered the room just in time to watch Scotty disappear in a flash of golden light.

"Looks like they got the transporter working," he muttered.

"Indeed."

Doctor McCoy turned to find Spock standing in the door way, hands clasped behind his back.

"Where have you been?" he demanded. "I thought you went after Jim."

"My talents were better suited to assisting Mr. Scott and Ensign Chekov repair the transporter," Spock replied. "Did you find the Captain?"

"Yes," Doctor McCoy muttered. "He said to get everyone off the ship once you fixed the transporter."

"Lieutenant Rabb has succeeded in assisting everyone off the _Seahawk_," Spock informed him. "The Captain, you, and I are the only three now onboard."

"Great," Doctor McCoy muttered.

"Where is the Captain?" Spock inquired.

"He's in the housing deck," Doctor McCoy answered. "Why?"

"I believe the Captain is in great danger," Spock said.

"Isn't he always?" Doctor McCoy asked rhetorically.

"On the contrary, Doctor, the Captain is only in danger 78.65% of the time," Spock stated.

Doctor McCoy stared blankly at him, not able to think of an appropriate response.

"What should we do now?" he asked instead.

"You will stay here and contact the _Enterprise_," Spock ordered. "I will find the Captain."

He was gone before Doctor McCoy had the chance to protest.

"Conceited arrogant green blooded hobgoblin," Doctor McCoy muttered as he sat down at the communications counsel. "I don't even know how to work the damn thing. What the hell does he expect me to do? Magically figure out how to work ancient technology when I can barely work a damn communicator without frying it?"

"_Doctor McCoy, are you finished?_"

Doctor McCoy jumped at the sound of Uhura's tired, but slightly amused voice. He scowled at the speaker box.

"Is Scotty up there?"

"_Yes, he is,_" Uhura said, chuckling. "_Spock didn't tell you that he set up the link so all you'd have to do is talk, did he?"_

McCoy didn't bother dignifying that with a response.


	21. Tomorrow is Yesterday Chapter 12

**Author's Note: What's this, you ask? An update a week later on a _SUNDAY?_ The world is going to end. Now. Yes. It is, it is. I am just as shocked as you are, believe me, cause I didn't think this chapter was going to be ready.**

**In truth, its probably not, but I'm sick of dealing with it and decided that I would purposely annoy you with vague hints and not-so-subtle ones about what's to come. In other words, when you're frustrated because you have no idea what the hell (excuse my French) Kahn is saying, that's okay. It's on purpose. He's not going to reveal his big-master-plan in the third chapter he's in. But, as a result, this chapter probably doesn't flow half as well as it should. But, EVERYTHING will be revealed in the end of this story (not the arc, the total story). **

**Author's Note 2: There will be more Spock in the next chapter. I promise. Actually, the next chapter is going to be predominately based around him, with the rest of the crew getting small tidbits here and there to break up the action. Which may or may not be a good thing depending on your reaction to the major cliff hanger (which I do not apologize for and will probably make you wait for another week to see resolved). **

**Author's Note 3: I lied. There will probably be about three or four more chapters in this story (cause I'm the author and feel like writing them). **

**One last thing: Reviews are love!**

* * *

The Voyages of the USS Enterprise

**Arc 2: **_Tomorrow is Yesterday_

**Summary of arc: **During a routine patrol mission, the _Enterprise_ gets sucked into the sun's gravitational pull. While trying to break free, it accidentally gets sent back to the year 1995, where space travel is in the far distant future and the countries on Earth are still heavily divided. Due to a transporter malfunction, Jim, Spock, Doctor McCoy and Scotty are beamed down aboard a naval aircraft carrier called the _USS Seahawk_. In order to avoid detection, the four must join the crew and become Naval officers. However, this proves difficult when the captain of the ship is murdered and JAG officers are called onboard the _Seahawk_ to investigate.

* * *

**Chapter 12: Confounded **

Jim stared blankly at the man in front of him, trying to figure out an appropriate response to his statement. Was that supposed to be significant? Was Jim really supposed to know who Kahn was?

A distant memory that definitely was not his own drifted to the front of his mind. It was of another life, another time, and extremely brief, but the split second memory was filled with hatred, frustration, annoyance, and helplessness at the sight of the one man who stood in front of Jim.

_Kahn_. There were so many emotions wrapped around that one name that Jim almost couldn't handle it.

Taking a deep, shuddering breath, Jim forced the memory and its different emotions out of his head, determined to find out who exactly this Kahn person was and what he was doing here, in this time.

"Who are you?" he asked again when he was finally able to speak. "I mean, you're Kahn, but what does that mean?"

Lieutenant Commander Rice—_Kahn_—looked at Jim in astonishment. He had obviously believed that Jim was merely pretending about not knowing who Kahn was.

He let out a soft chuckle, the astonishment quickly fading into a sly smile. "Your ignorance is surprising," he said. "But most welcome. It will make this so much easier."

"Make what easier?" Jim demanded.

Kahn smiled again. "You'll understand in time," he said.

"Great," Jim said cheerfully. "If that's the case, then I'll just be going then. I have a lot to do, after all. You know, evacuate the ship, save the world, and then return to my own time."

"You won't return to your time until I allow you to," Kahn said.

"What?" was Jim's oh so intelligent response.

"You did not come to this time by accident," Kahn informed him. "In your time, time travel is not yet possible. I brought you here."

"Why?"

"Because I wanted you to see what I was able to do," Kahn said. "I wanted you to know that you have no hope of winning this war."

"What war?" Jim demanded.

Kahn smiled. "You'll understand in time," he said again. "Good-bye, James Tiberius Kirk. It is nice to know that I have once and for all defeated you. There is no escape from this situation."

"Wait!" Jim said as a last ditch attempt to figure out what the hell was going on.

Kahn paused and raised an eyebrow. Jim was momentarily sidetracked by a brief annoyance for not being able to raise one eyebrow so effectively.

"What are you planning on doing?" he asked rather bluntly. "I mean, if you're going to kill me, then you should just it over with already."

Kahn looked surprised again. "I'm not going to kill you," he said. "Not yet."

"Then what?" Jim pestered.

"I'm going to make you watch," Kahn said. He took a step toward Jim, who held his ground. There were mere inches between them now. "I'm going to make you watch as the world around you falls apart and everyone you know and care about _die_. I'm going to make you watch your ship explode into a million pieces and then your starship radiate the world. I'm going to make you watch the end of this world with the knowledge that there was nothing you could do to stop it. And then, only then, will I kill you. Because then, you will be begging for death, and I, being the ever so merciful _Kahn_ will grant you that one last wish."

Jim shuddered under the sheer weight of the man's hatred. How could he have had that much of an impact on one person that he didn't even _know_?

"That's never going to happen," he said quietly, shuddering again when Kahn merely smiled. "I won't let you."

"But you won't have a choice," Kahn replied, pulling out an L shaped object from his pocket. Jim gulped. It was a gun. "Give it up, _Jim_. This is a no-win situation."

He raised the gun and fired.

* * *

Doctor McCoy was lost. Not that he would admit it to anyone, but he could not seem to handle finding his way around a ship of any kind without a guide. Sure, he could get from sick bay to the bridge in his sleep (he had done it so many times before because of a certain _idiot of a Starfleet captain_), but getting to anywhere else from anywhere else was a problem.

And now, the _Seahawk _was going to explode and Jim was going to die and the _Enterprise _was going to be stuck in this century forever all because McCoy couldn't find his way to a simple housing deck.

He had a feeling that something bad was going to happen. Scratch that. It wasn't a feeling. It was a sure-fast knowledge that whenever and wherever James Tiberius Kirk was, something bad was inevitably going to happen and the stupid kid was going to end up in Doctor McCoy's sick bay.

And no, this feeling wasn't just because of the bombs that were set to go off in just under two hours. No, it wasn't because Spock had left in search of Jim twenty-five minutes ago (not that McCoy was counting or anything) and still hadn't returned.

And it definitely was _not_ because of the gunshot followed by the yells coming from nearby or the ominous sound of rumbling followed by a shaking deck.

Doctor McCoy broke into a run, giving up all pretense of being a stately Naval officer. It wasn't like anyone was on the damn ship anymore anyway. Excepting, of course, him, Spock, and Jim and possible one idiotic JAG officer whom McCoy had seen running off in the opposite direction fifteen minutes ago.

"Damn it, Jim," Doctor McCoy muttered as he rounded the corner and slipped on the still shaking deck.

He didn't care if the shaking deck was because of the bombs or the fired gun wasn't aimed at Jim or by Jim. It was Jim's fault. And that was that.

Swearing again, Doctor McCoy pulled himself to his feet, breathing heavily and wincing. Blood seeped out of an inch long cut above his eye where he had smacked his head against the wall. It was definitely going to need the dermal regenerator once they got back onboard the _Enterprise_.

_If we ever get back_, Doctor McCoy thought darkly.

* * *

Pain. White hot, agonizing, unbearable, unthinkable _pain_. It was the only thing in Jim's mind as he stared blankly at the rapidly darkening stain on his left shoulder. _What the hell_?

He vaguely remembered _Kahn_ and a gun that was definitely not like anything Jim had ever seen before in his life. He remembered a gunshot that sounded awkwardly loud in the confines of the bunk and then Kahn disappearing in a flash of light.

But those distant memories quickly exited the forefront of his mind as a fresh wave of pain threatened to send him into unconsciousness.

"Damn it," Jim growled, struggling and failing to stand up. His legs gave out and he crashed unceremoniously to the ground.

A faint beeping sound grew louder and more insistent. Jim knew instinctively that it should register something in his mind, but he couldn't think much past the burning agony in his shoulder.

* * *

It was a quiet day onboard the _Enterprise_. As much as the crew didn't want to admit it, they were bored and getting restless from not doing anything. Chekov and Sulu had disappeared to the transporter room at the beginning of Alpha shift and hadn't been seen nor heard from in close to four hours.

Lieutenant Uhura had tried and failed to raise communications with anyone from the _Seahawk_ over that time period. It was almost as if there was a jamming signal, but in this time, there was nothing capable of jamming the _Enterprise's_ communications.

Frustrated by the lack of response, Uhura turned once more to the puzzling bits of history the computer had on display for her. There was still no clear indication as to what had happened to the crew of the _Seahawk_, though bits and pieces were starting to show. There was the unsettling report of the unresolved murders of the Captain and First Officer, followed by the poisoning of the CAG. Some no name lieutenant had been promoted to acting Captain (Uhura knew exactly who it was, but she didn't want to believe that it was in any way possible for Jim to have done that _twice_ in his lifetime) and a series of bombs had been discovered in the ship's hull.

As if she didn't already know all of that from her last talk with a very tired, very stressed out Doctor McCoy. Spock, apparently, had been promoted to first officer and was thus assisting Captain Kirk with the evacuations of the crew because one of the bombs was going to explode in less than three hours.

That had been close to two hours ago, and although Doctor McCoy had promised he would call the _Enterprise _when he could, Uhura was starting to get anxious again. Something had gone wrong. She could just feel it.

There was an excited buzz of a mixture of Russian, Scottish, and Standard over the ship wide communications link. Uhura started at the sudden noise and instantly turned her attention to that instead.

"Bridge to transporter room, please repeat that last transmission," Uhura requested.

"_We hawe fixed ze transporter!"_ Chekov yelled excitedly. There was an excited yell from behind him. Chekov started chatting in Russian so quickly that Uhura could hardly understand him. She did manage to get the gist of what he was saying, though. They had successfully located their three missing crew members and were about to beam them onboard.

"Thank god," Uhura whispered.

Chekov, Scotty, and Sulu had a slight, incoherent disagreement before Sulu came on the communicator.

"_You might want to get down here for this,"_ he suggested. More quietly as more Russian and Scottish sounded in the background, he added, "_And send a message to Chapel. Have her bring a couple of stretchers and a med team. Something bad has happened._"


	22. Tomorrow is Yesterday Chapter 13

**Author's Note: You guys are getting spoiled rotten. Two updates in two days. Man, I wish some of my favorites would update that quickly. *wink, wink*. **

**Author's Note 2: Don't ask why this is out so early. I have no idea. I just sat down in front of the seventh HP movie and _wrote_ for like an hour and a half straight. As a result, this is crowned the longest, most easily written chapter yet. Sigh. I think you guys might actually get another update on Sunday too. **

**Author's Note 3: Spock's major important role is moved to the next chapter, but don't worry, he is a MAJOR player in this chapter too. Though you could probably see this as a major important role as well, seeing as he is the hero in most of the important parts.**

**Author's Note 4: In the words of Doctor McCoy, I'm an author, dammit, not an engineer or a doctor. Therefore, any medical jargon/engineering technical jargon is COMPLETE AND UTTER BOGUS! And will be for the remainder of this story. **

**Reviews are love! **

* * *

The Voyages of the USS Enterprise

**Arc 2: **_Tomorrow is Yesterday_

**Summary of arc: **During a routine patrol mission, the _Enterprise_ gets sucked into the sun's gravitational pull. While trying to break free, it accidentally gets sent back to the year 1995, where space travel is in the far distant future and the countries on Earth are still heavily divided. Due to a transporter malfunction, Jim, Spock, Doctor McCoy and Scotty are beamed down aboard a naval aircraft carrier called the _USS Seahawk_. In order to avoid detection, the four must join the crew and become Naval officers. However, this proves difficult when the captain of the ship is murdered and JAG officers are called onboard the _Seahawk_ to investigate.

* * *

**Chapter 13: One Hour Earlier**

The _Seahawk_ groaned underneath the weight of the water rushing through the bowels. The first of the bombs had gone off deep inside of the ship, ripping a hole through the bottom and allowing the water to come rushing in.

A few yards above the rapidly filling hull was Jim, kneeling on the floor, completely unable to move. Blood coursed down his shoulder in a thick, steady stream.

Biting his lip, Jim reached out with his good hand and gripped the edge of the bed, letting out a few choice curse words as his vision swam and his shoulder ignited in pain.

"God damn it all," he muttered in a beautiful impression of Doctor McCoy.

Swallowing back his pain, Jim leaned all of his weight on to his good hand and pressed himself into a standing position.

The world went white and black as a wave of vertigo hit him so strongly that it nearly knocked him over. Jim stood in the middle of the room, shaking violently and gasping for breath. His shoulder felt as though it were on fire.

There was a loud _bang_ on the outside of the door. _Kahn_. Jim felt a rush of fear and adrenaline course through him, almost masking the pain. He glanced around desperately, looking for something to defend himself with. With a sinking heart, he realized there was nothing.

"Captain?"

Jim sagged with relief, almost losing his already delicate balance. He didn't think he would ever be as grateful to hear Spock's deep tenor voice as he was right now.

"Spock?"

Was that really his voice that came out in a croaky whisper? He winced.

"Are you all right?"

Jim closed his eyes, taking a deep, steadying breath. He hissed as the boat suddenly rocked violently, jostling his precarious footing and slamming him against the bed.

"Captain?" Spock called again.

It took Jim a moment to remember that _breathing_ was necessary and that _he_ was the captain Spock was asking about.

"I'm—I'm okay, Spock," he said. His shaking voice threatened to give him away. "What are you doing out there?"

"The door is locked, Captain," Spock replied.

"Oh." It wasn't the most eloquent of responses, but given the current state Jim was in, he figured Spock would forgive him. "Give me a minute and I'll unlock it."

If he could remember how to move, that is. That scenario was seeming more and more unlikely. And what the hell had Kahn been thinking, locking the door like that? Or had it been Jim who actually locked it? And exactly who the hell _was_ Kahn?

"Captain?"

Jim blinked stupidly, realizing he hadn't moved so much as a muscle. Which was good, because that meant the ferocious agony in his shoulder had dulled to a mind-numbing stabbing sensation.

"Hold on, Spock," Jim said.

"There is no need to hold on to anything," Spock replied. "The next bomb will not go off for another ten minutes."

It was funny how Spock's complete misunderstanding of Jim's words ranked higher than the fear of the bombs in Jim's pain-filled mind.

"It's an expression, Spock," he explained. "It means just wait for a few minutes until I can reach the door."

There was a brief, uncertain pause from the other side of the door.

"Are you sure you are all right, Captain?"

Jim did smile at that, although his First Officer couldn't see him.

"I will be, Spock," he replied. He took another deep breath and cautiously picked up one foot and placed it in front of the other. Stars dotted his vision, but it wasn't anything he couldn't live with. He had dealt with worse in worse conditions.

Though not by much. Whatever bullet Kahn had shot him with—which was probably some fancy, state of the art bullet from another century years in this current timeline's future—hurt like hell. And instead of dulling like most wounds did over a period of time, this one was growing stronger, almost as if Jim was getting shot over and over every time he breathed.

But that was impossible.

_Impossible_, Jim snorted as he inched his way toward the door, _we have _got_ to find a new word_.

His vision started to grow dark around the edges as he finally reached the door. His fingers brushed against the cool metal, seeking purchase on the door handle. The last thing Jim was consciously aware of was unlocking the door before the fire in his shoulder consumed him.

* * *

Sulu swore illustriously when he attempted to reactivate the transporter and it merely spit violet and emerald sparks at him. He had half a mind to take his katana from his quarters and bash the stupid thing to pieces.

One look at Chekov and Scotty's faces told him they felt more or less the same way. It had been close to half an hour since they managed to successfully beam Scotty up, but shortly thereafter, a strong jamming device had been activated, and all further attempts at beaming the Captain, Spock, and Doctor McCoy onboard the _Enterprise_ had failed.

"How is zis possible?" Chekov wanted to know.

Scotty muttered something in Scottish that probably translated into something highly impolite about Russians and transporters in general.

"A jamming signal this powerful isn't unlikely," Scotty said.

"In our century, maybe," Sulu pointed out. "But we're in the _twentieth_ century."

"Really?" Scotty asked. "I hadn't noticed."

Chekov let out a sigh of frustration. "We hawe to get ze Keptin back!" he insisted.

"Aye," Scotty said. "That we do. And I have an idea as to how we do it."

"How?" Sulu and Chekov asked simultaneously.

Scotty merely smiled impishly.

* * *

Jim was vaguely aware of an emotionless voice calling his name. He realized he probably should recognize it, or, at the very least, respond to it, because it sounded very commanding. For a moment, Jim thought he was on the _Enterprise_ with Pike once again, soon after the Narada incident. Jim had done the unintelligent thing and ignored his injuries until he had passed out from three broken ribs, a concussion, and a crushed larynx. He had woken up in sick bay three days later with a very stern looking Captain Pike glaring at him from the opposite bed, ordering Jim never to do such a stupid thing again.

To this day Jim still wasn't sure if Pike had been referring to the injuries or successfully commandeering the _Enterprise_.

"Sp'k?" Jim coughed, becoming aware enough to recognize the voice repeatedly stating his name. "Wh' 'penned?"

"You passed out due to blood loss," Spock informed him. There was something _off_ about the monotone voice he spoke in. "I gave you a shot of morphine to help with the pain."

Jim blinked, trying to process both the tone Spock was using and the words he was saying.

"Spock, if I didn't know better, I would say you were worried about me," he said at last.

"A rather absurd observation," Spock stated dryly. "Vulcans-."

"Don't feel emotion and therefore, do not get worried," Jim said with an eye roll. "Yeah, you've told me. But I think that's a bunch of crap."

"Your euphemisms both astound and fascinate me," Spock said, sounding not at all astounded or fascinated in any way whatsoever. However, his voice had lost that slight edge to it, making Jim know everything was going to be all right.

He glanced around, noting they were still in that cursed bunker. His shoulder felt marginally better than it had—instead of feeling like it was trying to detach itself from his body, it felt almost normal, save for the dull throb.

However, if the pool of blood that surrounded him was anything to go by, he best not overdo it.

_Ha,_ Jim snorted inwardly. _As if I ever _try_ to overdo things_.

Well, there _had_ been that one time at the Academy, but that had just been to piss Doctor McCoy off.

"Captain?" Spock inquired, looking at Jim with a raised eyebrow.

_There it is again_, Jim thought darkly. _That damned raised eyebrow_.

A split second later, Jim realized that Spock was asking if he was okay or not.

"M'fine, Spock," he said. And it was true, for the most part. Well, outside of the crazy possibly human named Kahn that was out to kill him for no apparent reason, a memory that Jim couldn't even begin to understand and definitely was _not_ his, and the gaping hole in his shoulder. But it all depended on how you looked at things.

"On the contrary, Captain, I believe you are operating at sixty-five point three four percent below your normal capability," Spock said.

"Well, no one is perfect," Jim said. He ignored the slightly argumentative eyebrow Spock gave him. "Do you have a plan?"

"We have to return to the _Enterprise_ as soon as possible," Spock said. "However, there is a jamming device preventing communications and transporter abilities."

"There always is," Jim muttered. He sighed, forcing himself into a sitting position. The world swam unpleasantly, causing his stomach to roll. He blinked and everything settled into its normal place.

"Are you all right, Captain?" Spock inquired.

Jim nodded once. "Yeah," he said. "Quit asking me that."

Spock's jaw tightened ever so slightly as he nodded once.

"Very well," he said. "I believe the jamming device will be in the engine room. We must get there before it floods."

"Wouldn't the water just do our work for us?" Jim asked, confused. After all, it was merely an electronic device. Water shorted the majority of them.

Spock shook his head. "I do not believe so, Cap—_Jim_. While Vulcans do not make assumptions, the wound in your shoulder gives evidence to support the theory of advanced weaponry and technology. Furthermore, since we are on a ship, it would be logical for the jamming device to be waterproof."

"Amazing," Jim said, shaking his head. "You got all that from a simple gunshot wound. You're like Sherlock Holmes."

"On the contrary, Ca—_Jim_, that is no _simple gunshot wound_, as you so bluntly put it," Spock said.

Jim was quiet for a moment. "So, we go to the engine room?" he asked.

"The engine room would be the most logical place for the device to be," Spock stated.

"All righty, then," Jim said. "Let's go to the engine room."

* * *

Doctor McCoy was going to kill Lieutenant Commander Rice. Just based on the alarmingly large blood stains leading from the housing deck to the engine room, Jim was either dead or dying and Doctor McCoy didn't appreciate either one of those scenarios.

"Damn it, Jim," he whispered.

Another explosion rocked the ship, somewhere nearby if the sudden, violent shaking of the ship was anything to go by. He swore again, feeling as though he was running out of time.

The sound of two extremely familiar voices in the otherwise abandoned ship made Doctor McCoy breathe a sigh of relief. He quickly sped up, going as fast as he dared through the halls until he reached the engine room.

"And then, he shot me," Jim concluded as Doctor McCoy walked in. He brightened visibly. "Bones! See, Spock, I told you we wouldn't have to go looking for him."

Doctor McCoy observed the scene—along with Spock's raised eyebrow—with a distinctly unsettled feeling. While Jim seemed to be holding up all right while his apt hands carefully, yet assuredly worked on the mechanical device in front of him, the rapidly increasing blood stain on the front of his shirt and the extreme paleness of his normally tanned face spoke otherwise.

"Who shot you?" Doctor McCoy demanded.

Jim grimaced. "Spock, hand me that wrench, will you?" he asked. He glanced back at Doctor McCoy. "It's kind of a long story and I just finished telling it. Give me a chance to finish saving our lives before I tell it again."

Doctor McCoy glared at Jim, not really able to express the _annoyance_ he felt toward his best friend for being such a god damned _idiot_.

"Lieutenant Commander Rice is this guy named Kahn," Jim relented. "I don't know who he is, but he apparently has this vendetta against me."

"That explains why he _shot_ you," Doctor McCoy growled.

Jim stared at him briefly, before turning his attention back to the device in front of him. He fiddled with it for a few more moments before sighing.

"Spock," he said. "I don't think this is working."

"Have you tried dissembling the outer core and then working on the inner wiring system?" Spock asked.

Jim looked exasperated. "Of course I have," he said. "That was the first thing I tried. But in case you haven't noticed, this jamming device isn't from this century or our century or any century that we know of."

"You're saying we have another crazy ass time and dimension traveler after us?" Doctor McCoy demanded before Spock had the chance to reply.

Jim nodded wryly. "That's one way of putting it."

"Damn it, Jim," Doctor McCoy muttered.

"Excuse me, but how the hell is this _my_ fault?" Jim wanted to know.

"Because it's always your fault," Doctor McCoy snapped back.

"On the contrary, Doctor McCoy, it is only Captain Kirk's fault eighty-one point three percent of the time," Spock stated quietly.

Doctor McCoy opened his mouth to give a retort about green-blooded hobgoblin computers, but the exhausted, pained look on Jim's face stopped him. He had very rarely seen _that_ particular look on Jim's face and it pained him every single time he did. It spoke volumes as to how bad Jim was really hurting and how desperate this situation really was.

"I have one last thing to try," Jim said, blinking and looking away from Doctor McCoy. He rubbed his hand over his face. "If this doesn't work, then we are totally and utterly screwed."

Doctor McCoy exchanged a glance with Spock, before quickly looking away. He sighed heavily.

"What can we do to help?" he asked. Granted, he was horrible with technology, but at this point, he would do anything to get back to the _Enterprise_. Doctor McCoy never in a million years thought he'd miss the starship, but now, he would be willing to do whatever it took to get back to a ship that wasn't about to be submerged in water.

"Spock, I need you to go to the firing deck," Jim said, closing his eyes briefly. He opened them again and handed Spock what looked like an ancient walkie-talkie. On further inspection, that is exactly what it was.

Jim continued, "There is probably going to be a bomb there. I need you to radio me when you find it and then you're going to disarm it. Then, find a hammer and bring it back here."

"Yes, Cap—_Jim_," Spock said, nodding his head once.

"Bones," Jim said as Spock left. "I need you to go down to sick bay and get whatever supplies you can. There's no guarantee there won't be trouble on the _Enterprise_ and I need you to be ready."

"What are you talking about?" Doctor McCoy demanded. "How the hell is there going to be trouble on the _Enterprise_? It's in space, for god's sake!"

"Kahn isn't just targeting the _Seahawk_," Jim said, closing his eyes again. His jaw tightened visibly. "He's going to try to blow up the _Enterprise _as well."

"What? That's-."

"Impossible? Yeah. Right. About as impossible as time travel, right?"

Doctor McCoy stared for a moment. "What are you going to be doing?"

Jim gave him a faint smirk. "Something stupid. And probably very, very dangerous."

Doctor McCoy longed to protest, but he knew that Jim would simply ignore him and then go and get himself blown up just to spite the doctor.

"Be careful, all right?" he asked instead. "I don't want to have to break in a new best friend."

"When am I not careful?" Jim asked cheekily. Sobering slightly, he added, "I'll be fine."

"I'll be back in a few minutes," Doctor McCoy told him. "You better still be here."

Jim nodded once. "I will be," he promised.

"I'm going to hold you to that," Doctor McCoy threatened.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Jim said. "Now go."


	23. Tomorrow is Yesterday Chapter 14

**Author's Note: Okay. So, this chapter has been done for nearly a week now... and I've just been too lazy to post it. But, on the bright side, I do have the next chapter done... so... you're getting two chapters for the price of one. :) **

**Author's Note 2: I realized that the biggest thing I haven't liked about this arc was the fact that I haven't told you guys anything... at all. So, that's basically what this chapter is about-giving you interesting little tidbits into Kahn's backstory so you understand who he is a little better. I probably didn't do the greatest job of it-I've only very recently begun going into depth on character development, so if it's a little rough, I apologize. But don't worry, this is only the first of the many times you will see Kahn. *spoiler*. **

**Author's Note 3: I know I keep saying reviews aren't necessary... but that doesn't mean I don't appreciate them. A lot. So, if you have anything to say about this story at all... feel free to say it. **

**Thanks for reading! **

* * *

The Voyages of the USS Enterprise

**Arc 2: **_Tomorrow is Yesterday_

**Summary of arc: **During a routine patrol mission, the _Enterprise_ gets sucked into the sun's gravitational pull. While trying to break free, it accidentally gets sent back to the year 1995, where space travel is in the far distant future and the countries on Earth are still heavily divided. Due to a transporter malfunction, Jim, Spock, Doctor McCoy and Scotty are beamed down aboard a naval aircraft carrier called the _USS Seahawk_. In order to avoid detection, the four must join the crew and become Naval officers. However, this proves difficult when the captain of the ship is murdered and JAG officers are called onboard the _Seahawk_ to investigate.

* * *

**Chapter 14: Kahn**

Jim closed his eyes the moment Doctor McCoy left and sighed heavily. The morphine Spock had given him was beginning to wear off and his shoulder was beginning to throb angrily again.

Jim forced his eyes open and glared at the jamming device in front of him. He highly doubted any maneuver on his part would disable the device, short of smashing it with a hammer. It wasn't exactly the greatest plan in the world—he had wanted to take the jammer to the _Enterprise_ once it was all said and done with to study it—but if it got the three stranded men off the _Seahawk_ then Jim was going to do it.

"This is so not cool anymore," he muttered.

He fiddled absently with the device, but gave up when his shoulder started throbbing in time with his heartbeat. His vision started to blurry.

"Great," he muttered. "I'm going to pass out and die and Spock is going to get blown up because I passed out and then Kahn is going to rule the universe."

"_Jim?_"

Jim nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound of Spock's deep voice coming through the walkie-talkie.

"I'm here, Spock," he said tiredly. "Did you find it?"

"_Yes,_" Spock said. "_I have successfully disarmed it._"

Jim blinked in surprise. He had known his First Officer was smart, but he was fairly certain that Spock didn't know how to disarm a bomb.

"Wow," he said. "That took you what, six minutes?"

"_Three point two five_," Spock replied.

Jim stared at the walkie-talkie, feeling as though there was something _off_ about Spock. He couldn't quite figure it out—it was like earlier when Spock didn't sound exactly concerned, but totally was.

"Well, hurry back here, okay? I want us all in the same place when Scotty beams us out," Jim ordered.

"_Hurrying would be both hazardous and illogical,"_ Spock said, sounding distinctly more Spock-like than before.

Jim had to smile at that. "You know what I mean," he said.

"_On the contrary, Cap_—Jim_, while I understand the words you have said, I do not understand the meaning you intend,_" Spock stated.

"Just get back to the engine room as soon as you can," Jim said, wincing as he shifted his weight. More blood trickled down his shoulder. "And make sure you grab that hammer."

"_Yes, Jim_," Spock said. "_Spock out_."

Jim turned his attention away from the walkie-talkie, still feeling as though there was something _wrong_ about the way Spock had been talking. He couldn't quite put a finger on it, but intuition told him Spock hadn't been quite honest with him. It wasn't that Spock wasn't telling the truth—Vulcans, to Jim's knowledge, were incapable of lying—but Jim knew better than anyone about not telling the whole truth.

Sighing heavily and knowing he wouldn't get answers until Spock arrived back in the engine room, Jim returned his attention to the jamming device in front of him.

* * *

Water sprayed from every direction as Doctor McCoy trekked through the wreckage toward the sick bay. Rice, Kahn, whoever he was, had decided to practically destroy all of the lower decks with one of his freaking not part of this timeline bombs. And of course, sick bay _had_ to be on the lower decks were the worst of the damage was.

"Damn it," Doctor McCoy muttered as his feet slipped out from underneath him. His hand caught on a jagged piece of metal, slicing deep into the skin.

Swearing, he pulled himself carefully back to his feet and inspected the wound. It was about three inches long, jagged, and already spilling dark red, almost black blood. Doctor McCoy swore again.

_That's going to need a dermal regenerator_, he thought darkly. _If we ever get back to the _Enterprise_ that is_.

Footsteps sounded from somewhere nearby. Doctor McCoy started—the ship was supposed to have been evacuated. He would know—the damn alarms were still blaring and they were beginning to give him a headache.

The footsteps sounded again, only this time much closer than before. They sounded as though they were coming from right around the corner.

Doctor McCoy glanced around, looking for a place to hide. Outside of the piles of torn metal and the rapidly rising water, there was nothing. He had to go and be in the only part of the damn ship that didn't have rooms.

It was too late to hide, anyway. The footsteps came around the corner, revealing a tall, vaguely familiar man. With a start, Doctor McCoy remembered who he was. It was Lieutenant Commander Rice. _Kahn_.

* * *

Jim rested his head against the wall of the engine room, closing his eyes. The world settled, if only for a moment.

"Captain?"

Jim didn't have to open his eyes to know that Spock was staring at him, more than likely with an eyebrow raised.

"It's _Jim_," he replied tiredly. "And I'm fine. Just tired."

He forced his eyes open. Sure enough, Spock was standing in the door to the engine room, hands clasped behind his back, and his eyebrow raised inquiringly. There was a slight tightening of his jaw and his eyes seemed to be marginally darker. Jim wondered what had happened in the fifteen minutes his First Officer had been gone.

"I located the hammer you requested," Spock informed him.

"Thanks," Jim said, still not moving away from the wall he was leaning against. At this rate, he wasn't sure if it was possible for him to move. Who knew that a strip of metal could be so comfortable?

"Cap—_Jim_," Spock began. "I believe-."

He never got the chance to finish. There was a loud _crack_ and suddenly, the entire world went sideways as a giant wave of water entered the engine room. Jim was pulled off his feet, his vision going black as his head connected solidly with the floor. The last thing he was aware of was a giant crashing noise and he faded from consciousness.

* * *

The ship rocked violently, sending Doctor McCoy crashing to his knees. More water lapped at his legs, soaking his trousers from the knee down to his boots.

Swearing, he pulled himself back to his feet, only marginally surprised to find that Kahn had stayed on his feet and was now in the process of leveling a gun at Doctor McCoy's head.

"Doctor McCoy," Kahn said. The way he said the doctor's name was almost as though he was tasting it. It sent shudders down Doctor McCoy's back.

"What do you want from me?" he demanded.

Kahn smiled, though it wasn't a pleasant expression. He looked as though he was a cat that had not only found a canary, but all of its friends too.

"You Federation officers are all alike," he said. "You all pretend not to know me and then act like complete _idiots_. It's no wonder how I overpowered your Captain. And he's supposed to be the best and brightest of you? Pathetic."

"News flash," Doctor McCoy growled. "We _don't_ know you. Whatever time you're from, it's way after this one."

"You are certainly as obstinate as I remember," Kahn said mildly. "Though I thought I beat that out of you."

Doctor McCoy stared, wondering what sort of messed up time line Kahn had to be from where he'd torture a doctor. He inwardly shook at the thought.

"I don't break that easy," Doctor McCoy said in a braver voice than he felt.

Kahn smiled again. "You will," he said. "When the time is right, you will break. And I will be there when that happens."

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence. Water continued to rush in through the hole, now lapping hungrily at Doctor McCoy's knees. There was a faint shift and more rubble collapsed, completely blocking the way to the sick bay.

_Damn it_, McCoy thought as he realized the only way back to Jim was now through Kahn.

"What are you doing in this time period?" Doctor McCoy asked finally, breaking the tension. He knew on some level that had he been Jim, he would have made some insult, blabbered on about something intelligent, and then gotten shot, figured out the evil master mind's plan, taken over the ship, and save the planet.

But he wasn't Jim and subtlety was never Doctor McCoy's strong point.

"I have my reasons," Kahn said. "And one day, you will understand those reasons. Maybe you'll even come to accept them as your own."

Doctor McCoy snorted. "That will never happen," he said. "Not when you decide to try to _kill_ my best friend and blow up our ship and trap us in this damn time. Or when you want that to happen so you can watch Earth burn."

"Keep telling yourself that," Kahn said with another smile. "But I know the future of your world. It's the same in all timelines. I know that one day, the great Captain Kirk isn't going to be so great. He is going to screw up and millions of people are going to die because of it. What I'm doing now is avoiding all of that. I am _saving_ millions of people. And you are one of those millions I'm saving."


	24. Tomorrow is Yesterday Chapter 15

**Author's Note: I'm not gonna lie-I freaking love this chapter. I don't know why-it's not really anything super spectacular writing wise... but I had _fun_. Do you know how long it's been since I've had _fun_ writing something? Almost as long as it's been since I've ridden my horse. Which, in case any of you actually care, has been a super-de-duper long time. Insanely long, actually. Almost ... _three and a half months_. Anyway. I really liked this chapter, so I'd appreciate it if you tell me how much you like it (or don't like it). And, I gave you a super intense cliff-hanger too. To go along with the one I gave you all like... ten minutes ago. Yeah. I'm awesome.**

**Author's Note 2: I know, I have been saying this for like EVER, but seriously, there are only one or two chapters left in this arc. Probably one. Okay. Maybe two. I haven't decided yet. But.. there's another arc after this one, which is probably ten times more angsty than anything else I will ever write. **

**That being said, I hope you enjoy the rest of this arc! **

**Thanks for reading! **

* * *

The Voyages of the USS Enterprise

**Arc 2: **_Tomorrow is Yesterday_

**Summary of arc: **During a routine patrol mission, the _Enterprise_ gets sucked into the sun's gravitational pull. While trying to break free, it accidentally gets sent back to the year 1995, where space travel is in the far distant future and the countries on Earth are still heavily divided. Due to a transporter malfunction, Jim, Spock, Doctor McCoy and Scotty are beamed down aboard a naval aircraft carrier called the _USS Seahawk_. In order to avoid detection, the four must join the crew and become Naval officers. However, this proves difficult when the captain of the ship is murdered and JAG officers are called onboard the _Seahawk_ to investigate.

* * *

**Chapter 14: The End is Just the Beginning**

Jim felt a sticky liquid trickle down his cheek as he forced his eyes open. He let out a groan as his vision swam into focus, highlighting the remains of the engine room walls blocking the way out. Water was spraying in from every direction and somewhere, there was a blaring alarm screeching in time with the throbbing in Jim's head.

"Spock?" he croaked.

He couldn't see his first officer through the water and wreckage. Jim only prayed that Spock wasn't _underneath_ all of that rubble.

He heard a faint crackle of static that sounded very similar to a walkie-talkie coming from somewhere nearby. Jim blinked, unable to believe his rare good fortune. The walkie-talkie was a mere yard away from his hand. And there was an incoming transmission that sounded a lot like the _Enterprise_.

_Thank god,_ he thought. The jamming device must have been destroyed when the bomb had exploded.

"Captain?"

Jim barely heard Spock's weak voice over the spray of water and blaring alarm, but his heart leaped with relief. If Spock was conscious, that meant they at least stood a small chance of getting out of this more or less intact.

"Where are you, Spock?" Jim asked, hating how hoarse his voice was. But all things considered, it was a very small price to pay for being alive.

"I am roughly two point six five feet to the left of your current position," Spock said.

Oh. That would explain why Jim couldn't see him. He could barely turn his head to the left.

"Are you all right?" Jim asked, wincing as he attempted to pull himself into a sitting position. He gave up and instead reached for the walkie-talkie, with better results.

"I am operating at forty-five percent normal efficiency," Spock stated.

Jim mentally swore, impressing himself with the amount of creativity he put into some of his curses. Doctor McCoy would have been proud. But for Spock to admit to something like that meant he was seriously hurt.

_Time to rethink my stroke of good luck_, Jim grumbled to himself.

Still, he had the walkie-talkie in his hand and all he had to do was contact the _Enterprise_ and they'd both be out of here, and in sick bay.

Without Doctor McCoy. Although it took Jim a few minutes to realize his best friend was missing, the second the thought hit him, stark terror swept through him in an overwhelming wave.

"Where's Bones?" he asked.

Because it was obvious the doctor wasn't in the room. For Doctor McCoy would, at the very least, be inventing new ways for Jim to die painfully by hypo for getting them into this situation, had he been in the engine room.

Which meant that he was still trying to get to sick bay. Which meant that there was a chance that he could be trapped somewhere by the damned bombs and _dying_ for all Jim knew.

"I am unaware of the doctor's current location," Spock replied, sounding slightly better than he had before.

"Damn it, I was afraid of that," Jim sighed. He glanced at the walkie-talkie, weighing the options in his mind. He and Spock could return to the _Enterprise_, conduct a life-form search on the ship's sensors, find Doctor McCoy's life-form signs, and then beam him up that way.

On the other hand, no matter how grim the idea was, there was a possibility that Doctor McCoy might not register on the life-form scan. As much as the thought killed Jim to admit to, he owed it to Doctor McCoy's daughter and to himself to find the doctor and bring him back if his friend was dead.

Swallowing against the sudden lump in his throat that formed at the idea—seriously, where did he get these thoughts?—Jim once more attempted to pull himself into a sitting position.

"I doubt that is a logical idea," Spock intoned from behind him, sounding suddenly very close.

Jim, who had finally succeeded in sitting up, jumped and glanced up. He grinned when he saw Spock standing above him. Although he looked paler than normal and there was a dark green stain spreading rapidly across his khaki shirt, he was alive, and he was raising an eyebrow at Jim.

"Haven't you learned by now that I'm rarely, if ever, logical?" Jim retorted. The room spun and everything went a pretty shade of white for a moment before the room settled back into its normal place. "We have to find Bones."

"I would cite the impracticality of the action of a manual search, I sense you will insist on it," Spock said with something akin to a resigned sigh.

Jim's grin, if possible, widened, before it faltered and disappeared as he eyed Spock's wounded shoulder. "Will you be okay?"

"I am not the one who is incapable of standing," Spock said without blinking.

Jim stared at him, hardly able to believe that Spock had just _insulted_ him.

* * *

Kahn seemed content to stand there and watch Doctor McCoy flounder for a response. What the hell was there to say to the proclamation that you would die and your best friend would be the cause of it?

"You're a nutcase," Doctor McCoy muttered at last. "You're all nutcases. You, Jim, Spock, Chekov, Sulu… that damned Scott. All of you. This is a result of some bizarre drink I let Jim talk me into trying, isn't it?"

It had to be. It damn well _had to be_. There was no other option. Doctor McCoy might have believed Kahn, had he not said that it was all going to be Jim's fault. That Jim was going to stand by and watch the world _die_ and watch _Doctor McCoy_ of all people die. Because if there was one thing in the entire universe (or timeline or reality or whatever) that Doctor McCoy could count on, it was the fact that James Tiberius Kirk did whatever it took to save the world (universe, timeline, reality, whatever), _and_ he saved the people he cared about. Well, that, and said James T. Kirk was an utter moron who had to get himself nearly killed every single time he saved the world… but that was beside the point.

Kahn shook his head. "Such ignorance. It will be your downfall."

"But not today," a new voice said.

Doctor McCoy tried his damndest not to smile as Kahn's eyes widened almost comically when Jim appeared behind him. Blood was seeping steadily from numerous wounds, he was favoring his left side, and he was relying on an injured-looking Spock entirely too much, but he had _that_ look on his face as he held onto a walkie-talkie.

"Do you know what this is?" Jim asked conversationally, smiling cheerfully at Doctor McCoy. "This is a walkie-talkie. Do you know what a walkie-talkie can do?"

Kahn stared at him as though he had grown a second head and five eyes.

"You are an idiot," Kahn almost snarled. "If you think _that_ piece of ancient technology is going to save your lives."

Jim's smile widened into a feral grin. "You see, that's what I love about ancient technology," he said. "People _always_ underestimate it."

"I have jammed all communications onboard this ship," Kahn said. With a smirk of his own, he added, "Including _underestimated ancient technology_."

"You see, that _was_ true," Jim said. "Until one of your high tech bombs crushed your delicate little jamming signal and I altered the frequency on this radio to contact my ship. The one you threatened to blow up with nonexistent missiles."

Kahn looked murderous. "You're _mine_, Kirk."

Jim's grin turned into something darker, more blood-chilling. "You won't win, Kahn. No matter what you're planning, you're out of your league this _time_."

There was no mistaking the double meaning he put on time as he locked eyes with Kahn.

"Your arrogance will be your downfall," Kahn growled. "You may have won this time, Kirk, but the war has only just begun."

There was a flash of light, followed by a shout of horror mixed with anger, before a golden light engulfed Doctor McCoy and he knew no more.


	25. Tomorrow is Yesterday Chapter 16

**Author's Note: Well... there's this chapter. And then there's going to be another chapter where things get fairly intense. Again. And then there's going to be a chapter to wrap everything up. And then... bam. Arc 3 begins. And hopefully, that will be a little shorter and a little less painful to update than this monster. **

**Author's Note 2: Hey. It's been only 8 days. I think that's a record. Usually, when I disappear like that, it's for 8 weeks. So yay! **

**Hope you enjoy the chapter... it's a little disjointed (and severely lacking in what I really wanted to put in here... which, alas, will have to be put in the next chapter or the chapter after that) but I like it well enough. **

**Read and review please! **

* * *

The Voyages of the USS Enterprise

**Arc 2: **_Tomorrow is Yesterday_

**Summary of arc: **During a routine patrol mission, the _Enterprise_ gets sucked into the sun's gravitational pull. While trying to break free, it accidentally gets sent back to the year 1995, where space travel is in the far distant future and the countries on Earth are still heavily divided. Due to a transporter malfunction, Jim, Spock, Doctor McCoy and Scotty are beamed down aboard a naval aircraft carrier called the _USS Seahawk_. In order to avoid detection, the four must join the crew and become Naval officers. However, this proves difficult when the captain of the ship is murdered and JAG officers are called onboard the _Seahawk_ to investigate.

* * *

**Chapter 15: Out of Character**

Sulu had witnessed many dark things in his life. He had seen entire worlds destroyed by a time travelling mad-man. He had heard about an entire civilization destroyed by famine and idiocy. He had even watched as a Vulcan became emotionally compromised.

But despite all of these terrible things, nothing could have prepared him for the heart wrenching scene that materialized on the transporter pad when the _Enterprise_ finally made got a hold of their beloved Captain.

Spock, the untouchable Vulcan, was soaked in so much blood, both green and red, that he looked like a freaking Christmas card gone wrong. His normally unruffled hair was now messed up and standing up in several places and tacky with blood in others. He had a long, dark emerald scrape down his cheek that was still weeping blood.

Jim, who was generally the one coated in blood, was paler than Sulu had ever seen him, with dark circles underneath his horrified eyes. His face was covered with scratches and dark bruises. His lip was cut and swollen and his nose was spilling blood. He had one arm wrapped around Spock's shoulder as the duo appeared on the pad, but was soon on his knees, crouching beside the third member of the missing crew members.

Doctor McCoy, the one who nothing bad ever happened to no matter what, was unconscious. He had a long, vicious looking cut on his left hand that was starting to swell and turn a nasty shade of maroon. But that wasn't what caught and held Sulu's attention. It was the long, slender dagger that protruded from the doctor's chest.

"Bones! Come on, Bones, stay with me. Stay with me, god damn it! Bones!"

Jim's terrified voice cracked as he grabbed hold of his friend's good hand and squeezed it tightly. The doctor didn't stir.

"Come on," he whispered. "Wake up, god damn it!"

Sulu could barely stand to watch, but couldn't bring himself to turn away from the horrific sight in front of him. Never had he seen anything quite so terrible as Captain Kirk begging his best friend to _live_.

Without even realizing he was doing so, Sulu grabbed the intercom and called Uhura. She needed to know what was going on and alert medical.

"BONES!" Jim shouted.

The entire room went silent as with a ragged gasp, Doctor McCoy's chest went still.

* * *

Jim didn't even try to stop the violent shudders that ripped through him as he clutched Doctor McCoy's hand for dear life. He didn't care about the other people in the room who were watching him with horrified stares. He only cared about Doctor McCoy—_Bones_.

He barely remembered half of what happened, it all occurred so damn _fast_. All he knew was that one second, he was having a glaring contest with Kahn, and the next, Doctor McCoy was lying on the transporter's floor with a knife sticking out of his chest and the world was ending.

Nothing happened to Bones. Not ever. Jim refused to allow it. After all, Doctor McCoy wasn't a fighter—he didn't even know how to stun anybody without a hypo for god's sake. He was the one who patched up all of the wounds, who smacked Jim upside the head for being an idiot, the one who was _always_ there. He didn't do anything like sacrifice himself in a starship to save everyone or jump off a damn drill or emotionally compromise a Vulcan—that was Jim's job. Doctor McCoy was supposed to stay safe so he could patch up all of the wounds. He wasn't the one who was supposed to be fucking hurt.

"God damn it, Bones, wake up!" Jim all but shouted. "BONES!"

He was barely aware of gentle hands tugging him away from his friend's body or the gentle hypo that was pressed against his neck, or the all-too-calm baritone voice telling him that he needed to calm down.

Bones was dying. Didn't they understand that?

But before Jim had a chance to point this out to anyone, his vision went blurry around the edges and then the world went black.

* * *

Uhura heard the doors slide open to the turbo lift, just as she made to leave the communications' station. She turned around, her eyes growing wide at the sight of Spock, soaking wet and bleeding heavily, striding through the door like it was a normal day. Chekov and Sulu hurried in behind him, both looking frightened and horrified. Scotty walked in, albeit slower, and looking lost.

Uhura wondered what happened in the three minute span of time between Sulu's last communication and now.

"Mr. Scott, are the _Enterprise's_ engines ready?" Spock asked, walking over to the captain's chair. He placed a hand on the back of the chair, but did not sit down.

"Aye, Commander," Scotty replied, still looking as though he had just been told the _Enterprise_ would no longer be his as he joined Spock behind the captain's chair.

_What happened_? Uhura wondered as she stared unblinkingly at the sight in front of her. Chekov and Sulu were talking with unusual somberness as the _Enterprise_'s engines began to wake up. Spock, refusing to sit in the captain's chair, even though he had done it countless of times when Jim was on an away mission. Jim, not on the bridge in the moment of a crisis.

"That could work," Sulu murmured in response to what Chekov had said. He glanced at the computer screen in front of him, running a hand over his face, before looking up to Spock. "Are we ready for warp, Commander?

"Engines should be ready," Scotty answered instead. "But I don't know what's going to happen when we reach warp eight again."

"Logic dictates that we wait until you have had time to test the engines," Spock said solemnly.

"We can't do that!" Sulu half-shouted.

The bridge, which had been fairly quiet before, went silent. Uhura stared at Sulu in shock. The man _never_ in the seven and a half months she had known him shouted at anyone like that, let alone a commanding officer.

"Kommander, I agree with Sulu," Chekov said quietly. "Ze keptin and Doctor McCoy need Starfleet's medical assistance. And you said zat Kahn vould hawe a secondary jamming dewice he vould actiwate if ve stayed too long."

"I am well aware of the circumstances, Ensign," Spock said. "But if we do not test engines before proceeding and they malfunction, then we will have zero point zero zero nine percent chance of surviving."

"But Commander, we _have_ to leave now!" Sulu protested. "Kahn could be locking weapons on us at any moment and we _wouldn't know about it_!"

"I am well aware, Mr. Sulu," Spock repeated. "Which is why I am ordering you to go to warp now."

Sulu blinked, looking surprised. Everyone looked at Spock, stunned. Hell, Uhura thought, even _she_ was surprised at that. Spock was going against his infallible logic.

"I think the Captain is starting to rub off on him," Scotty muttered to no one in particular as Sulu punched in the appropriate buttons on his computer screen.

"Here goes nothing," Sulu murmured.


	26. Tomorrow is Yesterday Chapter 17

**Author's Note: Well... it's a Sunday (for once) and I'm updating. I'm not sure what this means... but maybe you should find your loved ones and hide under a table or in a doorway... cause the world _might_ just be ending.**

**Author's Note 2: I'm really not too sure about this chapter. It didn't exactly want to be written-it kept wanting to be an exposition chapter with lots and lots of character studies... and I had to speed it up a little bit... okay, a _ton_ to make it work within the story... so, I apologize for any forced or seemingly out of character reactions to certain situations. Though, I'm rather proud of Jim's mental break-down (she says as she ducks slowly behind shield of angry reviewers). **

**To all of you who have reviewed and aren't actual members of FanFiction: Thank you! I applaud you! And love you very much. Also, to all of those who like this story enough to add it to your favorites, alerts, and me to your favorites and alerts, don't be shy! I'd love to hear from you! I promise, I won't bite. **

**As to those who have reviewed and are actual members of FanFiction... I love you all. I really do. And if I haven't gotten back to you yet via PM... I am so sorry. I am really behind (like three million years) on that. I love you, I really do. You are awesome. I'm just lazy and stressed and randomly covered in dried blood where I do not know where it came from (true story, actually)... so I am so very sorry that I haven't responded to you personally. But I really do appreciate the reviews! **

* * *

The Voyages of the USS Enterprise

**Arc 2: **_Tomorrow is Yesterday_

**Summary of arc: **During a routine patrol mission, the _Enterprise_ gets sucked into the sun's gravitational pull. While trying to break free, it accidentally gets sent back to the year 1995, where space travel is in the far distant future and the countries on Earth are still heavily divided. Due to a transporter malfunction, Jim, Spock, Doctor McCoy and Scotty are beamed down aboard a naval aircraft carrier called the _USS Seahawk_. In order to avoid detection, the four must join the crew and become Naval officers. However, this proves difficult when the captain of the ship is murdered and JAG officers are called onboard the _Seahawk_ to investigate.

* * *

**Chapter 16 (or maybe 17): Explosions in the Sky**

Jim woke to the all familiar sounds of the _Enterprise_ going into warp. He was out of bed and halfway out of sick bay before the events of just minutes earlier caught up to him and he went lightheaded.

"Captain!"

Jim heard Nurse Chapel's exclamation as she caught him about to collapse by the entrance to sick bay. He turned, swallowing down the nausea and the overwhelming feeling of _oh goddamn it that hurts_ that radiated from every single nerve ending in his body.

"Chapel, I have to get to the bridge," Jim said stubbornly. As if to emphasize his point, there was a loud, rather ominous _boom_. He took a step forward.

"At least let me give you a pain killer so you don't pass out on the bridge and get us all killed," Chapel said with some exasperation.

Jim would have kissed her, had he not been suspicious that the hypo she held in her hand was a sedative. He wouldn't put it past her—she had been hanging out with Doctor McCoy over the past six months.

"Okay," he relented when the bones in his injured shoulder grated painfully against each other.

"Keep us safe," Chapel murmured as she gently depressed the hypo in his neck.

Jim breathed a sigh of relief as the world didn't go fuzzy again. However, the relief was short lived as another explosion rocked through the ship and more alarms blared.

"Gotta run," he muttered, stumbling down the hallway toward the turbo lift.

* * *

The doors to the turbo lift slid open, admitting a very exhausted, very bloodied looking Jim to the bridge. Uhura watched as the half of the bridge not concentrated on saving everyone's lives offered a salute, at least attempting to follow regulations. Jim waved them off, muttering something about idiotic protocols as he walked stiffly over to where Spock was still standing dutifully behind the captain's chair.

"Mr. Spock, what's the situation?" he asked. His voice sounded surprisingly normal.

"Shields are at seventy percent, but holding," Spock intoned as another explosion rocked through the ship. "Kahn is attempting to hail us, but I have instructed Lieutenant Uhura to ignore his transmissions."

"Good," Jim replied. "What's the status on returning home?"

"We are currently at warp factor two. Mr. Sulu has plotted a trajectory that has a forty-nine point eight two percent chance of returning us to our time," Spock stated.

"All righty, then" Jim said with the faintest beginnings of a smirk. "Looks like I arrived in time for the fun part."

A rather loud, ominous _boom_ rattled through the ship. The sensors at Chekov's station went wild and the comm. lines lit up as reports from engineering and medical came pouring in.

"That was very not good," Jim muttered. "Chekov, what is the status on our phaser banks?"

"Zey are fully operational, Keptin," Chekov reported. "Shields of ze enemy's ship are at fifty percent power."

"Captain," Spock began.

"If you're about to tell me how _stupid_ this is, stuff it," Jim all but growled. "Chekov, on my mark, fire everything we've got at Kahn's ship. I want him atomized."

"Captain," Spock started again.

"What?" Jim asked irritably.

"We do not need to waste ammunition," Spock said calmly. "Kahn has disappeared."

* * *

Jim was ninety percent certain that the bridge hadn't been decked out in Technicolor lights or been placed on a revolving platform. Only ninety percent—he could never be too sure when he left Sulu and Chekov in charge. They were known to do some crazy things. Like ducks and Klingons. But that had only been one time and they had more than learned their lesson. So it was definitely a ninety-eight percent chance that the strange vision of the bridge was due to Kirk's lack of anything resembling sleep and the fact he was constantly being beat over the head (both literally and figuratively) with surprising things. First, there was that bomb in the engine room. Then there was Kahn himself. Or was that vice versa?

Jim couldn't bring himself to care more beyond the simple statement Spock had just told him. Kahn, the bastard who damn near killed Doctor McCoy and almost succeeded in blowing up the _Enterprise_ had disappeared.

Jim never wanted to kill someone more in his life.

"Chekov, is there any idea of where he could be?" Jim demanded, hoping—_praying_—that the resident kid genius could find some trace to find the bastard.

Chekov sounded almost terrified as he shook his head and replied, "No, Keptin."

Jim squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his hands into fists, concentrating on breathing evenly.

"Damn it," he whispered. He opened his eyes, not at all surprised to find the looks of shock staring back at him from everyone of his bridge crew. This was the first time he had ever come to losing control of himself in front of them.

_If only they knew_, he thought rather darkly.

"Captain," Sulu began hesitantly. "We cannot afford to waste time here looking for him."

"Indeed," Spock said, taking a step toward Jim, who was currently gripping the back of the captain's chair with white knuckles. It was the only thing keeping him both standing and from exploding. "We must return to our own time."

"I have plotted a trajectory that should take us back around the sun," Sulu said quietly as Jim continued to be unresponsive. "We may not have enough power in the engines to reach the warp we need, though."

"I'll work on that," Scotty said, standing up from the engineering consul.

Jim nodded once, understanding the need to return to their own time. The _Enterprise_ was running low on just about everything and had probably been badly damaged during the latest attack. Doctor McCoy needed serious medical attention and as he was the only capable doctor onboard, they needed to get him to a Starfleet medical post and _fast_.

"We will be reaching the sun's gravitational field in about thirty seconds," Sulu reported.

The bridge had gone deathly quiet. Jim still had yet to release his grip on the captain's chair, still had yet to say anything else. He knew on some level that he should say some calming words, tell everyone that it was going to be all right—that was his job as captain, after all—but Jim couldn't think much past the image of Bones lying on the transporter pad, bleeding out with a knife sticking in his chest.

A violent shudder rocked through him, one that had absolutely nothing to do with the _Enterprise_ being gradually pulled into the sun's gravitational field.

"Captain."

Spock's low voice broke through the constant litany of _oh shit Bones was hurt_ that was running through Jim's mind. He blinked, realizing that everyone was still staring at him, this time with concern.

"Report, Sulu," he all but whispered.

"We are at warp nine and accelerating," Sulu replied grimly. "If my calculations are correct—."

"Which zey are," Chekov put in confidently. "I checked zem myself."

Jim almost cracked a smile.

"We should reach the point in which we traveled to this point in time in roughly two minutes," Sulu said. "When we reach that point, Scotty's going to throw the engines into full reverse and we're going to slingshot back around the sun to our own time."

"Good work," Jim murmured.

The world was spinning again and starting to go fuzzy around the edges. A dull, constant ache had worked its way into his head. He blinked, trying to force it away. Suddenly, a thought hit him.

"Uhura," he said. "When was the last hail from Kahn?"

Uhura frowned at her communication consul and pressed a couple of buttons.

"About the same time he disappeared," she said. Her voice soured. "He left a message."

"Patch it through to my chair," Jim ordered.

He had a bad feeling about the way Kahn had very suddenly disappeared. He had an even worse feeling about the message Kahn had left.

Before he had the chance to play the message, the _Enterprise_ made a loud screeching noise, shuddering violently. Jim was thrown against the captain's chair, hissing in pain as his injured ribs hit the arm of the chair. Then, everything went dark.


	27. Tomorrow is Yesterday Chapter 18

**Okay, so once again, I apologize for the wait in between chapters. And for not responding to your awesome reviews. But, don't worry... I'm hoping all of that will change here shortly. I'm out for the summer now, so hopefully, I'll have more time to write.**

**I lied, too. I know. I have to stop that. It's a bad habit. Anyway. I said there would probably be two more chapters... but this one finishes it up, so I'm just going to end it here. If any of you would like to read the cute, fluffy moment between Bones and Jim when Bones makes his miraculous recovery... I wrote it for my other _Star Trek_ story and didn't feel like adding it here... because I think most of you have read 'Quirks' anyway. **

**I tried something new in this chapter-aren't you proud of me? I wrote from Admiral Pike's point of view. It was fun. I feel like it added some nice insight. And, there's some revelations and some foreshadowing and some hurt Spock. Shock! I know. Hurt Spock is hard to come by... but I definitely beat him up a lot, so there's a little in here. Enjoy! **

**I don't feel like putting the summary here, so you're just going to have to enjoy the chapter without it.**

**Chapter 18: Back in Black**

Uhura was surprisingly the first person to recover from the sudden shift in gravity. Of course, out of the majority of the bridge crew, she was the least injured and the least focused on what she was doing.

Spock, unsurprisingly, was the next one to his feet, though Uhura didn't miss the small trickle of emerald blood that seeped from a cut on his hairline. She winced in sympathy, wishing there was something she could do for him to ease his pain.

Jim was one of the last people on his feet, swaying violently, and looking extremely disoriented. Uhura was stunned to find him in a state of semi-consciousness and she wound up staring at him until he made a face at her.

"Sulu?" he all but whispered.

"The chronometer is going wild," Sulu reported, wincing visibly as he gingerly moved his arm. While Uhura was no doctor, she could see from the awkward angle the limb was held at, Sulu definitely had broken his arm.

_"Starfleet_ _to _Enterprise_._"

Uhura had never been so happy to hear Lieutenant Commander Samson's voice as she was in that moment.

"We're back!" Chekov exclaimed unnecessarily.

Sulu grinned. Scotty said something highly inappropriate in Scottish about what how good the _Enterprise_ was that made Uhura's ears turn a dark shade of red.

The only two people on the bridge who weren't celebrating were Spock and Jim. Spock was understandable—he rarely was emotional. But Jim was generally among one of the most exuberant about the crew's accomplishments.

Uhura studied his face, knowing this went beyond his obvious physical injuries. In some ways, Jim was better at hiding and controlling his emotions than Spock. Something was biting at him and Uhura wondered what it was.

"Lieutenant, contact Starfleet and request an emergency landing at the closest Starfleet base," Jim said quietly.

"We haven't been gone for more than a second," Sulu noted with surprise as Uhura dutifully contacted Starfleet. "That's amazing!"

"We trawelled back time," Chekov reminded him. "It is possible we returned at the exact same moment we left."

Uhura watched Jim out of the corner of her eye, noting that his face momentarily darkened, before he closed his eyes. When he opened them again, his customary grin was back in place. It didn't reach his eyes.

"Well, gentlemen, ladies, we have done the impossible," he said with such a convincing upbeat tone that Uhura was momentarily fooled. "But we should probably not tell anyone what happened."

"Keptin?" Chekov asked, obviously confused.

"What?" Uhura demanded simultaneously.

It went against Jim's nature to keep something _this_ monumental quiet, especially if it meant he had bragging rights over the admiralty. Although Jim had proven himself to be a great captain more times than Uhura could count, he still had his critics.

"Do you want to explain to Pike that we went back in time, messed with the flow of events, and very possibly changed history?" Sulu asked.

"Who would believe this anyway?" Jim asked with a slight snort. "Hell, if I hadn't been here, I wouldn't believe it."

"Ewen if we did change history," Chekov began. He shook his head. "Zis is impossible."

"Highly unlikely," Spock corrected. "It is indeed not impossible if we have proved that it is."

"Enterprise_ this is Starfleet_. _You are authorized to dock at Starbase 11. We will have the requested medical team standing by._"

* * *

Jim stumbled as his feet solid ground. He knew he was going into shock—hell, who wouldn't be after all he had been through?—but he was determined to make it into the medical center on his own steam.

Spock walked a few feet behind Jim, looking almost as bad as Jim felt. Green blood was drying on his face and as much as he tried to hide it, he was limping steadily. His normally straight and proud posture was noticeably more slumped than usual.

Uhura, Chekov, and Sulu walked behind Jim and Spock. Jim didn't have to look at them to know they were worried. He could almost feel their concern. And as much as he appreciated it, he really wished they would have stayed on the ship. Not because he didn't want them there, but because they were all in danger.

Kahn was out there, somewhere, and Jim wasn't stupid enough to think that the events in the 20th century were it. He knew that Kahn had the power to time travel and he could very well be in this century, searching for them, for Jim. And the thought of losing his crew was almost too much to handle.

"Captain," Spock said quietly, breaking through the wall of almost panic that had surrounded Jim's mind.

Jim blinked, realizing they were in the medical center. His legs shook violently as he glanced at Spock and nodded once as the nurses approached.

"Here we go," he murmured.

* * *

The official story was that there was an explosion in engineering. Jim and Spock had gone down to assist, bringing Doctor McCoy along in case of emergencies. Doctor McCoy had gotten trapped in a secondary explosion, causing his injuries. Jim and Spock had been hit by flying debris, causing Jim to fall of the catwalk and suffer most of his injuries.

Admiral Pike stared at the report with strong disbelief as it crossed his desk some three weeks after the initial incident. Who in their right mind would believe that _Kirk_ would have fallen off a catwalk, even in the middle of a shockwave? The kid had almost superhuman balance, surpassed only by a certain half-Vulcan onboard the _Enterprise_. And as for Doctor McCoy going down to engineering—while that was likely if Jim went down there, it just didn't make any sense that Jim had allowed his friend to get into any sort of trouble down there. And the whole Spock being hurt by flying debris in engineering—and what the hell was flying in engineering anyway? And why the hell were there two explosions?—that just smelled like bullshit.

Admiral Pike set down the PADD containing the report before picking up his private communications device. He pressed a few buttons and waited a moment before Lieutenant Uhura of the _Enterprise_ came over the speaker.

"_Admiral?_" she asked in faint surprise.

"May I speak to Captain Kirk?" Pike inquired. "Preferably in private?"

There were low mutters on the other end of the line, followed by a quick, but distinctly cold _yes sir_ and a series of beeps.

"_Admiral?_"

Admiral Pike recoiled at the sound of Jim's voice. The kid sounding beyond exhausted, as though he had just gone the past three weeks without sleeping.

"You okay, son?" Admiral Pike asked.

"_Did you seriously call ten light years just to ask if I was okay?_" Jim retorted, sounding a little more alert now. "_I'm fine, Pike._"

"I've got a report here that says you suffered a concussion, four broken ribs, a shattered wrist, a torn ligament, a dislocated knee, and a broken nose," Pike stated dryly. He heard Jim sigh. "I know you have a different definition of the word 'fine' then the rest of the world, but don't you think that's taking it a bit far?"

"_Advances in medicine since the 20th century are remarkable_," Jim shot back. "_That all happened three weeks ago. Thanks to a few rounds of the bone knitters and the dermal regenerators—along with some impressed doctors and an allergic reaction and a round of anaphylactic shock—I'm fine._"

Admiral Pike shook his head. "What happened?"

"_You read the report, Admiral,_" Jim said.

Admiral Pike stared at the communications device with a raised eyebrow. Since when did Jim call _Pike_ Admiral?

"And I know you well enough to know when you're lying through your teeth—or in this case, a PADD," Pike returned.

Jim sighed again. "_You wouldn't believe me if I told you._"

"I've believed a lot of your crap, kid. Lightning storms in space and mad Romulans out to get us ringing a bell?"

"_This is different._"

"It always is."

There were a few moments of tense silence, during which, Pike became increasingly frustrated. Jim was obviously hiding something—something big.

"_Hypothetically speaking, what are your opinions on time travel?_" Jim asked. "_Do you think it's possible?_"

"Kirk," Pike began curtly.

"_Just answer the question,_" Jim all but ordered.

"Fine," Pike said shortly. "But only if you answer mine."

"_You've asked a lot,"_ Jim said. "_You're going to have to remind me what your question is._"

"What the hell happened?" Pike said with some irritation. There was no doubt that Jim was a genius—but there were days when he took that intelligence to a flat out irritating level.

"_You first_," Jim said.

Pike sighed, wanting to ram his head into the desk in front of him. Why the hell did Jim care what Pike thought about time travel?

"It's obviously possible in the future," he said at last. "And we're obviously going to gain the technology to be able to do it."

"_Well, what if I told you that we can do it _now_?_" Jim inquired. "_That if you go in reverse around the sun, the gravitational pull will increase your speed to the point where you're not travelling through _space_ so much as you are in _time?"

"I'm not authorizing another one of your experiments, Kirk," Pike said, letting a little of his irritation color his voice. "The chemistry lab still isn't done with its reconstruction after your experiment with thermite and alcohol."

"_That wasn't entirely my fault_," Jim said quickly. "_I warned them it could be explosive, but you know how the chemistry kids get about their explosions. You should just be glad I didn't decide to add a nuclear reactor into the mix._"

"Jim," Pike said warningly, sensing that this was another one of Jim's diversion tactics. "What happened?"

"_We were on our patrol around this quadrant,_" Jim said. _"We got too close to the sun and it started to pull us in. We threw the engines into reverse and bam, next thing we know, we're in 1995._"

"And?" Pike prompted.

"_You know me and seemingly harmless situations,_" Jim said with a slight chuckle that sounded like it was on the verge of panic. "_The transporter malfunctioned. Lt. Commander Scott, Doctor McCoy, Commander Spock, and myself got transported down to a freaking aircraft carrier._"

"And?" Pike asked again.

"_Let's just say that the four days we were there were not kicks and giggles,_" Jim said.

A light blinked on Pike's communication system.

"Excuse me, for a moment, Jim," he said. "Urgent message."

"_Yeah, yeah,_" Jim said lightly. "_Just when we're getting to the good part_."

Pike rolled his eyes and patched the message through.

"_Admiral Pike, please inform the _Enterprise_ that they are hereby ordered back to Earth to attend the promotion ceremony of one Captain __Noonien Kahn,"_

Pike murmured his agreement before turning back to his conversation with Jim.

"You hear that, Jim?" he asked.

_"__Yeah,__" _Jim said, his voice suddenly shaky._ "__And please, I'm asking you this as a friend, Pike, give me any other assignment. I don't care how damn dull or how far away, give the __Enterprise __any other assignment."_

Pike was surprised, to say the least. Out of all the reactions he had expected, begging in an anxious tone of voice for any other assignment wasn't one of them. Sure, he had expect Jim to snort and mutter something about doing lazy work when he could be off saving a planet somewhere, but this… this was something else entirely.

"What's going on, Jim?" Pike wanted to know.

_"__It's a long story,__" _Jim muttered._ "__Look, if you order me to come to that ceremony, I'm going to have to disobey. I would rather not, but trust me, if that Kahn person is who I think he is, it will be safer for everyone if I just stay away."_

Before Pike had the chance to demand what the hell that meant, Jim signed off.


	28. The Enterprise Incident Chapter 1

**Hey everyone! How's life going? Pretty good, I hope. If not, well, hopefully this will put you in a better mood. : )**

**I honestly have no idea where this chapter came from, but I like it. A lot. And special thanks to startrekgirl.m for giving me the idea for this arc. Once again, the original arc 3 (which I believe was supposed to be arc 2) got postponed because I decided I wanted to do something different… again. **

**Forgive me for making this arc completely different from the episode at the beginning. I don't remember the last time I watched this particular episode, or if I ever did actually watch this episode. It's been a while. But, I read enough of the Wikipedia episode guide on this episode to know what's going on—or, at least, I'd like to think that. **

**This arc wound up here because it's going to do a lot of setting up for the next one. That's not to say that this one isn't going to be entertaining in its own right—believe me, it will be. I have a lot of badass Spock, some epic Doctor McCoy, and maybe some slightly dead Jim for you in the coming chapters. For those of you who have actually seen this episode and recall enough of it to actually remember what happens in it, congratulations. But my usual disclaimer of taking things and warping them to my own ideas applies. So… you really don't know anything outside of the basic structure of what's going to happen in this arc. So hah. I'm one up on you once again. (Insert evil laughter and thunder here). **

**ON WITH THE ARC! And aren't you proud of me—second update in two days! Must be all the James MacAvoy I've been watching… he's inspiring, to say the least. Especially in X-Men. Sigh. I love that movie. I must really watch it illegally once more.**

**Anyway…**

* * *

**The Voyages of the **_**USS Enterprise**_

**Arc 3**_: The _Enterprise_ Incident_

**Summary of arc:** It is two weeks from the one year anniversary of Nero's return. The Romulans are making suspicious movements on their side of the Neutral Zone, causing the _Enterprise_ to be called in to patrol the area. Acting against orders, Jim crosses the Neutral Zone, only to be caught by the Romulan patrol. He, along with Spock, gets transported aboard the Romulan ship as prisoner for questioning. While aboard, Jim accidentally uncovers a plot to overthrow the Federation, starting with a planet known as Angelus IV. But before Jim has the chance to relay his message to Starfleet, the Romulan commander orders his execution for treason and Jim must escape the ship before it's too late.

* * *

**Chapter 1: Warp Factor 7**

Jim winced as he woke up to the sound of yelling and stomping feet coming from next door. It took him a moment to remember where he was—generally, a woman's raised voice meant he was either at home with his mother and step-father number x or some stranger's place… though for the life of him, Jim couldn't remember the last time he was in either one of those situations.

_"__I'm starting to think that maybe everyone was right in calling you an emotionless bastard!__" _

Jim blinked, staring up at his ceiling in shock. _Uhura_? What the hell was she going on about? And why was she in Spock's quarters at—Jim glanced at the chronometer—_four o'clock in the damn morning?_

Jim hastily scratched that mental image as there was another round of foot stomping, followed by the all too familiar sliding of the automatic doors.

_"__Don't follow me, Spock!__" _Uhura yelled.

Jim belatedly realized that he probably should go find out what was going on and why the hell his two most competent people were screaming at each other at four o'clock in the goddamn morning, but no sooner had the thought occurred to him, he had fallen back asleep.

* * *

Jim had almost entirely forgotten the incident as he stepped out of the turbo lift two hours later with a cup of coffee in one hand and an armful of PADDs in the other. He would have forgotten it entirely, had it not been for the slightly morose way Spock was seated in the captain's chair—was it possible for Vulcans to be morose? Jim wondered absently—and the frosty way Uhura was refusing to look at him.

Jim sighed, giving his customary, though slightly resigned salute to the few crew members that indeed insisted on following protocol and rising to attention as he entered the bridge. Spock merely stood quietly with his hand clasped behind his back, dipping his head in greeting as Jim approached.

"Good morning, Captain," he said quietly.

Jim stared at him for a moment, noting with some slight surprise that Spock looked abnormally tired.

"Rough night, Spock?"

He meant it as a sympathetic, rhetorical question—really, he did. This wasn't his usual attempt to illicit a blush from Spock, so he was therefore extremely surprised when it did. Well, it wasn't an out and out blush, but Spock looked away from Jim and Uhura let out a hiss of undisguised annoyance.

"I apologize if you were unable to sleep on account of my activities last night," Spock stated.

Jim wished that when he was caught fighting with his girlfriend—if he ever found one that lasted more than one night, at any rate—he could sound as calm and unbothered by the entire thing as Spock did at that moment.

Though from the slight slump of Spock's shoulders and the way Spock was pointedly looking anywhere but at Uhura, Jim knew that this morning's lovers' spat was probably weighing on him more than he was willing to admit.

Deciding that he would try to talk some sense into Uhura and find out what happened later, Jim settled into his chair and resigned himself to another boring morning full of paperwork and no orders from Starfleet.

Mornings like these—save for the awkwardly overheard lovers' quarrel earlier and Spock's blushing now—were becoming all too common for the _Enterprise_ since their time-travel incident a month prior. Jim wasn't an idiot—he knew that this was punishment for slighting the newest admiral—but he also flat out refused to apologize. While there was no proof that this Admiral Kahn was in any way, shape, or form related to the Kahn Jim and the others had had a run-in with in 1995, Jim refused to allow his crew to fall victim to the man again. The Enterprise hadn't fully recovered from the run in with Kahn's missiles and the whole time travel debacle, even weeks after the fact.

But just because Jim understood what was happening, it didn't make him any less annoyed with the whole situation. The _Enterprise_ was Starfleet's flagship, meaning they were supposed to be handling the new planet identifications, the biological tests and advancements, or even helping the Vulcans settle into their new planet. The crew was the best and brightest that Starfleet had to offer—Pike and other admirals had admitted to that on several occasions when the Enterprise once again added another planet to the Federation or avoided an out and out intergalactic war. They shouldn't be forced to sit on their asses and watch the stars fly by on their way to yet another supply run.

Jim glared at the PADD in front of him, his scowl deepening as he saw the transfer paperwork in front of him. It was for one Doctor M'Benga, who would be joining the crew as CMO temporarily while Doctor McCoy still recovered from the events in 1995. While Doctor McCoy had been cleared for light duty aboard the Enterprise, he was still denied the power of being CMO and couldn't handle anything more serious than a laser screwdriver burn. Jim sensed that the only one more annoyed then himself about this was Doctor McCoy, who hated being told to sit by and do nothing.

"Captain, I don't think Starfleet is going to accept no for an answer on this one. You're going to have to sign him on."

Jim blinked, his scowl softening ever so slightly as he glanced up to look at Yeoman Rand.

"This is my ship," he muttered. "I should have the final say as to who gets to come aboard."

"Unfortunately, Captain, you are not a fascist dictator and you are not Captain Jack Sparrow," Rand said with a smile. "You're apart of Starfleet, which means, unfortunately, you're going to have to accept decisions that are not your own."

"Do you agree with this?" Jim challenged. "Doctor McCoy will be fine in a day or two—Chapel told me that herself. We don't need another CMO, and especially not one that's been on a Starbase for his entire career."

"Are you upset about the fact you don't control who's onboard this ship or are you worried about Doctor McCoy thinking he's being replaced?" Rand countered.

"Bones knows better than that," Jim growled in lieu of an answer. He crossed his arms over his chest and sighed. "What will Starfleet do if I refuse to sign it?"

"Order me to keep bugging you until you do," Rand replied.

"So, how long do you think that will buy me?" Jim asked, a smirk creeping over his face. "One day? Two? I mean, honestly, look around. It's not like we're in need of a CMO right now anyway. We're orbiting Melanusfor a supply drop for god's sake!"

"You never know," Rand said. "The planet's core might implode and the ship might be sucked into the gravitational field. Countless of people will be hurt in engineering and no doubt, you will almost die trying to save someone."

Before Jim had the chance to reply, Uhura interrupted, sounding admirably professional. Jim deemed her another one he wanted to be like, should he ever have issues with a girlfriend.

"Orders have just come in from Starfleet," Uhura informed them. "We are to report to the Neutral Zone immediately for a patrol. The Romulans have increased activity on their side of the border and the Federation wants to do the same."

"Give me that damned stylus," Jim growled to a grinning Rand. "And wipe that smirk off your face. It's annoying."

He scribbled his signature on the PADD and sighed. "How long before he gets here?"

"He's already onboard," Rand told him. "He just needed your signature to be cleared for active duty."

Jim sighed. "Sulu, how long until we reach the Neutral Zone?" he asked as Rand left the bridge.

"A little over two hours at warp four," Sulu reported. With a smirk that was born of boredom, he added, "But Scotty has been putting advancements in the warp drive. He reckons we can reach warp seven safely if we wanted to."

Jim heard Spock grumble something about regulations as he returned Sulu's smirk.

"Let's punch it," he said.


	29. The Enterprise Incident Chapter 2

**Hey! I must have too much free time on my hands if I'm updating this story once again… So much for my usual summer hiatus. Oh well. When I actually get around to ****having**** a summer, I'll probably start writing. As of right now, though, I'm getting up at 6:30 in the morning, going to school, then getting out at noon, and going to ride my horse… :), so it's not ****all ****bad. Just somewhat annoying at times. **

**Anyway, my issues with not having a summer notwithstanding, contrary to the title of this chapter, there really isn't that much Pike in this chapter. It's mostly about Jim, who is getting really chatty with Spock in my mind for some reason… he wants to be friends now… and I'm willing to let them. I'm thinking about having a guy-bonding session between them soon. Well, after this first couple of round of chapters.**

**For the record, I don't think this arc is going to last nearly twenty chapters. I know, I know, you're all disappointed, but the chapters are steadily getting longer now, so hopefully, that will make up for it.**

**Enjoy! And please, feel free to tell me what you think, even if you don't like the story. I honestly don't mind, rumors of my murdering a person notwithstanding. That didn't actually happen, no matter what other people might say. It was just an accident! Really! **

* * *

**The Voyages of the **_**USS Enterprise**_

**Arc 3**_: The _Enterprise_ Incident_

**Summary of arc:** It is two weeks from the one year anniversary of Nero's return. The Romulans are making suspicious movements on their side of the Neutral Zone, causing the _Enterprise_ to be called in to patrol the area. Acting against orders, Jim crosses the Neutral Zone, only to be caught by the Romulan patrol. He, along with Spock, gets transported aboard the Romulan ship as prisoner for questioning. While aboard, Jim accidentally uncovers a plot to overthrow the Federation, starting with a planet known as Angelus IV. But before Jim has the chance to relay his message to Starfleet, the Romulan commander orders his execution for treason and Jim must escape the ship before it's too late.

**Chapter 2: Pike's Discovery **

* * *

Contrary to whatever grand notion Jim had built up in his mind about the Neutral Zone being an exciting place with a lot of ship battles and phaser fire going off every five seconds, the border of the Neutral Zone was an exceedingly dull place. With so many sensors and blockades set up in order to keep the Romulans out of the Federation, there was no way to get a read on what was happening on the other side of the Neutral Zone. Which often led to the question how exactly _did _the Federation know whether there was increased activity on the other side of the border, but that question was often overlooked for the sake of diplomacy. It wasn't really a great idea to come out and say (or accuse) the Federation or the Romulans of having spies on the other side of the border. That would probably start a war of some kind. Just possibly.

All of these thoughts raced through Jim's head as Sulu executed a perfect stop just on the Federation side of the Neutral Zone. There was literally a golden line in space to mark the territory—a golden line full of traps, bombs, sensors, and all sorts of other nasty things that would probably explode a Constitution class Federation starship, should a certain captain ever get the bright idea to cross it. Well, the devices probably were in place more for the rouge Romulans than the Federation captain, but the line was still a warning to Jim. This was one rule he wouldn't—or couldn't—break if he wanted his crew to remain safe.

"Well," Sulu said after some time had passed. "This sure is interesting."

"Liar," Chekov snorted. He had just taken his post, after coming from sick bay. He had apparently suffered a round of food poisoning during breakfast that morning. "Zis makes Melanus look like a party."

Jim couldn't help but secretly agree, but this still remained to be one of the more important missions the Federation had sent them on in the past month.

"Let's not get too cocky, gentlemen," he advised them. "We don't know the entire situation here."

It was the truth, more or less. They _didn't_ know exactly what was going on, though Jim had a good idea. Two weeks from now, the one year anniversary of Nero's death would come to light. It would be too much to ask for that the Romulans stay quietly behind their lines of neutrality while the Federation celebrated the loss of the Narada and the dozens of Romulans inside of it. Granted, Nero hadn't been a part of the Romulan empire—he stated as much to Pike mere minutes before he blew up Vulcan—but the Romulans still took the loss personally. If there was increased activity on the other side of the Neutral Zone, then the Federation could not afford to take that lightly. No matter how they got their information.

Sulu and Chekov grumbled to themselves, probably taking bets on how long it would be before something bad happened. Jim knew that as captain, he probably shouldn't condone that behavior, but he didn't want to ruin the only fun they were able to have.

He glanced over at Uhura and Spock, who were both pointedly ignoring each other. Jim half-wondered whether he should intervene before things got ugly, but decided that since it didn't directly concern him at the moment, he should let them work it out on their own.

"Captain, we're receiving a transmission from Commander Fredrick," Uhura reported. "He has information about the Romulan activity and has invited you to come aboard their Starbase to talk about it."

Spock glanced up at this news, his eyebrow raised. Whether it was out of curiosity or surprise or just plain excitement, Jim couldn't quite tell, but he did suspect that something out of the ordinary had just happened.

"Tell Commander Fredrick I will be arriving shortly," Jim said. "And that Commander Spock shall be accompanying me."

"Captain, regulation cites one commanding officer should be onboard the _Enterprise_ at all times in case of emergency," Spock stated swiftly.

Jim rolled his eyes. "And since when do regulations matter?" he challenged. "Don't answer that," he added quickly. "It was rhetorical."

Spock looked his version of annoyed. "If you insist on continuously ignoring regulations, the admiralty will have no choice but to remove you from your command."

Was it sad that this conversation was another thing that had become routine over the past month? A bored Jim never boded well for regulations—it had led to the experimentation on the _Enterprise'_s warp drive, a couple of other upgrades in engineering, and even one attempt at repeating the failed chemistry lab experiment. Had it not been for Spock, Doctor McCoy, and a couple of other interferences along the way, Jim probably would have blown a hole through most of the engineering decks.

Needless to say, the threat of being removed from command didn't bother Jim all that much, especially when he knew that Spock didn't really mean it. He was just merely reminding Jim of the fact he was being an idiot, which, like Doctor McCoy's dire rants, Jim chose to ignore.

"Well, then, you should come with me, so we won't be breaking another regulation of having an unauthorized civilian on a military base," Jim returned. He did have a certain level of respect for Spock's warnings—much more than Doctor McCoy's, at any rate—but that only extended to giving Spock the luxury of engaging in a verbal spar.

"Your argument is highly illogical," Spock stated. "And it is based upon the assumption of your sudden removal from command, when, in actuality, that would not be the case. It would take at minimum seven days for the admirals to reach a decision of that magnitude and at least three more for them to vote on such a matter."

Jim hid his grin, as he replied, "Well then, that's settled. I'm commanding officer, and according to you, I'm going to be that way for a smidge longer than the events of today, so therefore, Mr. Spock, you are ordered to come with me onboard that Starbase. Understood?"

Spock's face was indifferent as he nodded once, though Jim knew he was enjoying himself.

Uhura quietly relayed the message to Commander Fredrick while Jim stood from his chair.

"Sulu, the bridge is yours," he stated. "Do try to keep the _Enterprise_ in this time period while I'm away, all right?"

Sulu rolled his eyes as he rattled off the customary 'yessir'. Spock rose and followed Jim to the turbo lift.

"Oh, and Uhura?" Jim called, holding the door.

"Yes, Captain?" Uhura asked.

"Please inform Doctor McCoy to meet us in the transporter room," he said. "And don't tell M'Benga."

Uhura raised an eyebrow, looking uncannily like Spock, before nodding and contacting Doctor McCoy.

"So," Jim said as the turbo lift doors slid to a shut. "What was up with the four o'clock in the morning fight?"

"I apologize again if I disturbed you," Spock said. "But what happened is between Uhura and myself."

"And the rest of the command deck," Jim grumbled. "I don't think I was the only one who heard you this morning."

Spock was irritatingly quiet. Jim sighed. "Look," he said. "It's all right if you and Uhura are fighting. It's perfectly normal."

Spock looked as though he was about to say something, but the turbo lift doors slid open before he had the chance. Doctor McCoy stepped in, looking as though he had just woken up.

"Bones!" Jim said cheerily.

Though they were on the same ship, Jim had barely seen his friend in the month since Doctor McCoy had been cleared for duty.

"Jim," Doctor McCoy grunted in way of a greeting. "What the hell do you want at eight o'clock in the morning?"

Jim hadn't even noticed the time when they arrived at the Neutral Zone. He felt slightly guilty—Doctor McCoy had had the late shift last night and had probably just gotten back to his quarters when Jim had woke him up.

"Spock and I are off to talk to Commander Fredrick about the happenings on the other side of the Neutral Zone," he said.

"And?" Doctor McCoy asked, looking annoyed.

"Doctor M'Benga has been cleared for duty onboard the _Enterprise_," Jim said, hoping to get the words out quick enough so the look of betrayal wouldn't last as long on Doctor McCoy's face.

To his surprise, Doctor McCoy just nodded and leaned his head against the wall of the turbo lift.

"Good," he said. "We need another doctor around here."

Jim raised an eyebrow, slightly surprised that there hadn't been more explosions of anger—had he known Doctor McCoy could act rationally when concerning his medical kingdom, Jim might have authorized Doctor M'Benga a long time ago. But he accepted the reaction without argument as the doors to the turbo lift slid open again, admitting the three men to the engineering deck.

* * *

Admiral Pike winced as he stood up, feeling an all too familiar tug in his back, signaling that he had overdone things that day. While he had regained most of his mobility in the year since Nero's kidnapping, there were still days where it pained him. It was generally after days like today, when he had instructed the advanced hand-to-hand combat course followed by a two-hour long survival hike with this year's senior cadets.

"I'm getting too old for this," he muttered as he reached for the handy bottle of Tylenol he kept in his desk. While the bottle of pills was relatively old fashioned and slower when compared to a pain hypo, Pike still preferred to keep the bottle on hand just in case for days like today. That, and he had been Jim Kirk's academic advisor and stand in parent for over four years and Tylenol happened to be one of the only forms of pain relief that the kid wasn't allergic to.

There was a knock on his door, followed by the entrance of Admiral Archer. Pike was surprised—he hadn't been expecting the older man to come by until later that week.

A scowl darkened the bald man's generally cheerful fac. The expression was generally reserved for a certain _Enterprise_ engineer, which made Pike wonder what exactly Kirk had let Scott get away with this time.

"Sit down, Pike," Archer all but barked. The resemblance between the man and his beagles was almost uncanny at times.

Pike raised an eyebrow, but did so anyway, less out of respect for Archer's wishes, but more out of a general need to do so. Jim wasn't the only one who liked to defy his superiors.

"What happened now?"

Archer sighed heavily as he took the chair across from Pike's.

"We have a situation at the Neutral Zone," he said. "It concerns that protégé of yours."

Pike didn't rise to the insinuation behind Archer's words. He had grown used to it over the past year, although the times that particular tone of voice was used in concern to Jim Kirk were growing less and less as he proved himself to be a better captain than anyone could have hoped for.

"What happened?" Pike repeated.

"Before I tell you, know that I have been given strict orders not to inform anyone," Archer said. "I'm only telling you this in hopes that you can contact Kirk and find out what caused him to do such a reckless thing."

"I'm not going to ask you again, Admiral Archer," Pike stated in his command voice. "What happened?"

"Captain Kirk crossed the Neutral Zone at 1000 hours this morning," Archer said heavily. "After he dismantled all of the boundaries and protections set in place. He has gone to either confront the Romulans or join them."


	30. The Enterprise Incident Chapter 3

**Hey, guys! Sorry for the wait-I have been so busy lately that it's not even funny. My other two Star Trek stories got updated because I've had those chapters written for months in advance (no, really, they were written back in like... March). This one is going to take longer to update simply because I can't write as long as I want to anymore. Sigh. Is it sad I have more time to write when I'm in school?**

**Anyway, Jim's reasoning for crossing the Neutral Zone is still a mystery-that will probably be revealed in a chapter or two. Right now, they have new problems to worry about! Hehehe, I love putting Jim in dramatic situations. **

**More of Pike in this chapter... though he won't be in the next chapter. **

**Thanks for all of your lovely reviews! They're what keep me going! And if I don't respond to them, it's not because I don't love you all-it's because I'm super busy writing or interning at the local news station or riding my horse... But I really do appreciate you guys all the same!**

**Cheers!**

* * *

**The Voyages of the **_**USS Enterprise**_

**Arc 3**_: The _Enterprise_ Incident_

**Summary of arc:** It is two weeks from the one year anniversary of Nero's return. The Romulans are making suspicious movements on their side of the Neutral Zone, causing the _Enterprise_ to be called in to patrol the area. Acting against orders, Jim crosses the Neutral Zone, only to be caught by the Romulan patrol. He, along with Spock, gets transported aboard the Romulan ship as prisoner for questioning. While aboard, Jim accidentally uncovers a plot to overthrow the Federation, starting with a planet known as Angelus IV. But before Jim has the chance to relay his message to Starfleet, the Romulan commander orders his execution for treason and Jim must escape the ship before it's too late.

**Chapter 3: Shockwaves**

* * *

_0900 Hours_

Jim walked slightly behind Commander Fredrick, feeling awed by the sheer power of the Starbase. Countless of monitoring platforms were set up to keep an eye on the Romulans' ship-movements while a myriad more were set up to ensure that the barriers were kept in place. Everything was state of the art, making even the most advanced sensors on the _Enterprise_ look years out of date. While there was no video feed—those wouldn't work through the barriers—the audio alone was more than enough to get a clear picture of what was going on. The sensors were so sensitive, they could pick up a Romulan's sneeze from over eight miles away.

"As you can see," Commander Fredrick said with a slightly smile. "We do not need spies over the border when we have these sensors."

Jim heard Spock murmur his agreement, but he himself was too stunned by the place to say anything else. This place was amazing, he decided.

Spock was talking about the mission at hand and the reason why they were on the base in the first place. With some effort, Jim looked away from the monitoring station and turned his attention back to the matter at hand.

"This morning, at 0500 hours, increased Romulan fleet activity registered on our sensors," Commander Fredrick explained, his smile fading into a grim frown. "Now, this has happened before, but only as a training exercise that was reported by the Romulans weeks in advance."

"This one didn't have a warning," Jim guessed.

Commander Fredrick nodded. "Precisely," he said. "Which is why we sent word to Starfleet, requesting assistance. We have no idea what the Romulans are planning on doing and with it being so close to the anniversary of the last Romulan attack, I didn't want to take any chances."

"You did the right thing, Commander," Jim said, feeling slightly out of place reassuring the older man. It didn't help that Commander Fredrick was almost as old as Admiral Pike, and therefore, old enough to be Jim's father.

However, the Commander didn't seem to think anything of it as he nodded once.

"Thank you, sir," he said.

There was a moment of silence, before Jim asked, "So what can we do to help?"

Commander Fredrick rattled off a long list of commands that detailed a rather thorough patrol of the border and a couple of different mock phaser tests.

"This is just so the Romulans know that we're here," Commander Fredrick said, a hint of steel running through his voice. "And that we're not going to stand by and let them take over."

Jim accepted the statement without commenting, but privately thought that this was a potentially bad idea. One look at Spock's face told him that his First Officer felt the same way.

Jim was about to speak his mind, when, suddenly, with a giant shudder, the lights of the Starbase flickered violently before going out.

"What the hell was that?" Commander Fredrick demanded, his voice almost lost underneath the cacophony of yells and sudden chatter that erupted.

"Where's the back up power?"

"Is the barrier still in place?"

"Someone check communications! We need to contact Starfleet!"

"Where the hell are the damn flashlights?"

"What caused that shudder?"

"Are the stabilizing systems still online?"

"Is the gravity control still online?"

Jim felt someone slam into him from behind. Swearing, Jim blinked, trying to get his eyes to adjust so he could see what happened, but there was no light whatsoever in the Starbase.

"Sorry, Captain!" a woman's voice squeaked. "I didn't see you!"

Jim rolled his eyes, knowing that the action was lost in the dark. "It's fine," he grunted to the general direction of the voice. He slowly picked himself off the floor.

"Spock," he called. "Where are you?"

"I am right behind you, Captain."

Spock's voice was alarmingly close to Jim's ear, but Jim forced himself not to jump.

"Can you find your communicator?" he asked.

"I already have tried contacting the _Enterprise_," Spock said quietly as more shouts and orders flew around the Starbase.

"And?" Jim prompted.

"Whatever shockwave caused the Starbase's power to go out has also affected the _Enterprise_," Spock informed him. "Their communication systems are down."

"Shit," Jim muttered, sighing heavily. "Until we can get the power back on here, we can't even take a damned shuttle back over there."

"It would be unadvisable trying to move around the unfamiliar Starbase in the dark," Spock agreed. "And there is no way of knowing whether the shuttles themselves have power."

"What the caused that?" Jim asked quietly.

"I do not know, Captain," Spock said. "I do not know."

* * *

_Present_

Admiral Pike was usually a very patient, very understanding man. It was rare for him to truly get angry at anyone. While he got annoyed a lot—being Kirk's academic advisor and general father figure tended to have that effect—Pike never really got _pissed_.

However, today was one of those exceptions. And, unfortunately, as the messenger, Admiral Archer bore the brunt of Pike's anger.

"What the hell do you mean, Kirk crossed the Neutral Zone?" Pike shouted, all feelings of tiredness and overall _boredom_ vanishing.

Admiral Archer glared at Pike. "I mean exactly what I said, Admiral," he said. "At 1000 hours this morning, Kirk and the _Enterprise_ knowingly crossed the Neutral Zone and entered Romulan space."

"And you believe that he undid all of the protections _singlehandedly_?" Pike demanded, raising an eyebrow in disbelief.

"Kirk has made it very clear to the admirals on multiple occasions that he can figure out and hack into any computer system he wants in under an hour," Admiral Archer shot back. "The Kobayashi Maru is more than an example of that."

"He was trying to make a point, Archer!" Pike ground out, infuriated. "And we all agreed that while his methods were unorthodox, he would not be punished for that."

"This is not punishment," Archer stated. "It is merely a statement of fact. He has the ability to disable the boundaries and protections put into place at the Neutral Zone and he had more than enough will to do it."

"And what _will_ is that, exactly?" Pike asked, anger coloring his voice. When Archer didn't answer, Pike continued. "Is it because he's been forever labeled as rebellious that you automatically assume that he's the one at fault?"

"His record speaks for him," Archer said through clenched teeth.

"Whatever James Kirk has done in the past is just that—the past," Pike said heatedly. "Since he has been given the _Enterprise_, he has grown out of his rebellious tendencies and into a Captain that Starfleet can and should be proud of."

"Kirk has been Starfleet's golden boy for all of six months," Archer said. "His rebellious days are hardly a long distant past. And the kid has made it no secret that he's been unhappy with the orders he has been given."

"So since he's been unhappy with Starfleet's state of the art _flagship_ doing supply runs for merchant dealers, you naturally assume that he would be willing to do something this stupid?" Pike demanded.

"He has before," Archer said.

"If the _Enterprise_ has crossed the Neutral Zone—and I'm not saying that that's true in the slightest—I can honestly say I believe Jim had no willing part in the disabling of the boundaries," Pike said. Archer made to speak up, but Pike cut across him. "Whatever Jim may have been in the past, a traitor to Starfleet was never on the list."

"We will see," Archer said. He sighed. "I don't want to fight with you on this, Pike. And I want to believe that Kirk has changed as much as you do. But the _Enterprise_ did cross that Neutral Zone, and as far as we can tell, it was willingly."

"Then Kirk had a damned good reason for defying orders," Pike said. "And we probably will thank him for it later."

"Do you honestly believe that?" Archer asked incredulously.

"I do," Pike said.

"And the deal about the barriers?"

"I do not believe Jim is to blame."

"I want to believe you," Archer said. "I really do. But the admirals aren't happy. This could mean war and they are going to want someone to blame. And Kirk has just made himself the perfect scapegoat."


	31. The Enterprise Incident Chapter 4

**Yeah. I suck at updating. In my defense, I was out of town last week and I did actualyl work on this story because I felt guilty about not updating before I left. So there. You didn't even have to guilt trip me into updating. I did it all by myself. Aren't you proud of me?**

**If any of you would be so kind as to remember which chapter I stopped reviewing on so I can go back and respond to your amazing, heartfelt, and very encouraging reviews, that would be most appreciated.**

**There are some very vague mentions to Tarsus IV in here. It doesn't out and out say TARSUS IV in bright, shiny, blinking lights, but if you know enough about Jim's character and his background, then you'll get the extremely subtle reference, and therefore, you will understand why he gets so very, very angry in the last part of this chapter.**

**Doctor McCoy might seem slightly out of character in this... but I personally really liked him like this, so I kept it.**

**I am going out of town (again) next week and won't have access to a computer at all. GASP. I know. A place without computers. But, I will try to get another update in before then. It shouldn't be too hard-I have the majority of the next chapter written. There are a couple of edits I need to make and it needs to be typed up, but it should easily be up by Saturday evening.**

* * *

**The Voyages of the **_**USS Enterprise**_

**Arc 3**_: The _Enterprise_ Incident_

**Summary of arc:** It is two weeks from the one year anniversary of Nero's return. The Romulans are making suspicious movements on their side of the Neutral Zone, causing the _Enterprise_ to be called in to patrol the area. Acting against orders, Jim crosses the Neutral Zone, only to be caught by the Romulan patrol. He, along with Spock, gets transported aboard the Romulan ship as prisoner for questioning. While aboard, Jim accidentally uncovers a plot to overthrow the Federation, starting with a planet known as Angelus IV. But before Jim has the chance to relay his message to Starfleet, the Romulan commander orders his execution for treason and Jim must escape the ship before it's too late.

**Chapter 4: Meltdown**

* * *

_0930_

Someone in engineering had managed to find the backup power supply and had the decency to turn it on. While the lights and computer systems were running at 50% normal efficiency, it was still enough to get a general picture as to what was going on outside and at least be able to move around the Starbase station without running into anyone else.

The main concern now was the barriers, which had been temporarily taken offline during the half hour blackout. Everyone was working hard to ensure that the barriers were put back into place before the Romulans discovered what had happened and tried to take advantage of it.

"Captain, I have successfully contacted the _Enterprise_."

Jim had been in the process of helping to rewire one of the electric traps so that it would be able to make more use of the little power it had available when Spock walked over.

"Shit," Jim swore, dropping the laser screwdriver he had been holding. He clutched his hand, wincing as the skin instantly began to redden. "I'm sorry, Spock. What was that?"

"I have contacted the _Enterprise_," Spock repeated. "They have suffered minimal damage to the navigation panel, but Commander Scott believes it should be fully functional within the hour."

"And what about us beaming back onboard?" Jim asked.

Before Spock had the chance to answer, Commander Fredrick came over to them, looking harried and very, very frazzled.

"Captain Kirk, I need you over in the communications room now," he said, sounding out of breath. "We just received a transmission from the Romulans."

"What is the transmission?" Jim asked.

"You'll need to hear it for yourself," Commander Fredrick told him. "And this is a request from the Romulans, not from us."

Jim glanced at Spock, who merely raised a slightly surprised eyebrow in response.

"It is possible that the Romulans have more advanced sensors than our own," Spock stated. "It should not be surprising that they know we are here."

"It makes you wonder what really caused the shockwave," Jim muttered, quietly, so Commander Fredrick didn't hear him. Louder, he added, "Lead the way, Commander."

Commander Fredrick looked at Spock, slightly wary.

"They said they wanted you only," he said apologetically to Jim.

Jim tried not to let his anger get the best of him.

"Where I go, my first officer goes," he said through clenched teeth. "Is that understood?"

"Captain, I do not think it is logical for us to anger the Romulans at the present," Spock stated as Commander Fredrick opened his mouth to argue.

Jim looked at Spock in surprise, noting that Spock looked his version of annoyed.

"If you think it's wise," Jim said, trailing off to give Spock the option of coming with him after all.

"I do," Spock said firmly.

"Very well," Commander Fredrick said before Jim had the chance to say anything else. "If you'll come with me, Captain Kirk."

Jim shot one last glance toward Spock before reluctantly following Commander Fredrick to the communications room.

* * *

Doctor McCoy really hated space. He hated the cramped tin can he was forced to fly around in with four hundred other people, he hated the messed up sleeping cycles that came with artificial daylight and no sunlight whatsoever, and he really, really hated the fact that when the power went offline, then _everything_—including the damn gravity—went offline for half a damn hour while a certain Scotsman tried to fix the stupid thing all because of some stupid shockwave that no one knew the origins of.

"Damn it," he muttered as he bounced off of a wall. He knew he had a pair of anti-grav boots _somewhere_ in his quarters, but seeing as, at the moment, he was in the transporter room and _not_ in his quarters—where he should have been, _asleep_ for god's sake—the knowledge was fruitless and just annoying.

The lights flickered back on, but somehow, the gravity stayed offline.

_Go figure_, Doctor McCoy muttered as he bounced off another wall.

"Commander Spock has reached Lieutenant Uhura on the bridge," one of the engineering ensigns reported from somewhere around the transporter control system. How _he_ stayed on the ground while Doctor McCoy floated about was beyond the good doctor's knowledge of space and gravity and _physics_ in general. He was a doctor, damn it, not Einstein.

"And?" Doctor McCoy demanded.

"The power was knocked out on the Starbase as well," the engineer said. "But no one was reported injured."

"Jim _never_ reports his injuries," Doctor McCoy growled.

The engineer looked properly terrified as, without warning, Doctor McCoy suddenly landed with a _thud_ on the floor of the transporter room. Pain erupted in his right arm as a not so subtle reminder that his shoulder, while mostly healed from the events with Kahn, was not one hundred percent yet.

"Doctor?" the engineer asked with concern.

"I'm fine," Doctor McCoy grunted, pushing himself back to his feet. "Keep me posted on what happens on that Starbase, okay?"

Jim had given Doctor McCoy the option of going over there with him, but Doctor McCoy had refused, mostly because he didn't want his friend getting into trouble with the admirals once more. Doctor McCoy, strictly speaking, wasn't allowed off the ship unless it was on shoreleave.

"Yes sir," the engineer said.

Doctor McCoy sighed, running a hand through his hair. He really needed to sleep, but his concern that Jim would do something insanely stupid and nearly die was a little more pressing. Doctor McCoy knew for a fact that he wouldn't be able to live with the fact that he was asleep when something inevitably bad happened to Jim.

"Damn it, Jim," Doctor McCoy muttered.

* * *

Jim was shocked by the transmission to say the least. As the voices faded out, he looked at Commander Fredrick, unable to hide his astonishment.

"How certain are you that's real?" he demanded, clenching his hands into fists as he attempted to get a control on his rising anger once more. "That there is a merchant ship that crossed the Neutral Zone and needs proper authorization by a starship to be allowed back over?"

"There is no way short of crossing the Neutral Zone to be a hundred percent certain," Commander Fredrick said helplessly.

"There has to be some other way!" Jim all but shouted. Swallowing heavily, he lowered his voice and added, "We should contact Starfleet. Let them know what's happening."

"You heard the transmission," Commander Fredrick protested. "The moment we try to send for help, the Romulans will send another shockwave through the barrier and permanently take us offline. There are over two _thousand_ people on this Starbase that will die if that happens."

"And over billions more that will die in the war crossing that Neutral Zone will cause!" Jim retorted.

He looked away from Commander Fredrick, trying to get a handle on his emotions. He had never been faced with a decision like this, where no matter which path he chose, thousands—if not billions—of people would inevitably die. The closest to this in his past would have been Nero's attack, but even then, there had been a better alternative.

'We can't let that merchant ship be destroyed by the Romulans," Commander Fredrick said, drawing Jim's attention back to the conversation at hand. "There are children onboard!"

"Or so the transmission says," Jim argued. "Audio can be faked!"

"Are you willing to take that gamble?" Commander Fredrick demanded.

"Are you willing to start a war on the _slim_ possibility that transmission is real?" Jim countered.

"A war is coming either way, Captain," Commander Fredrick stated flatly. "Are you going to be the one that goes down in history as the man who stood by while innocent children were murdered when you full well could have prevented it?"

Uncontrollable rage pulsed through Jim. Without even pausing to think, he strode forward and clenched a fistful of Commander Fredrick's shirt, slamming the older man against the wall. Shocked gasps reached Jim's ears, but he barely heard them.

"_Never_," he growled. "_Never_ accuse me of looking the other way while children are killed."

With an animalistic noise, Jim once more slammed Commander Fredrick against the wall before releasing him. The older man slid to the ground, staring up at Jim in shock.

Without sparing the rest of the occupants a second glance, Jim spun around and stormed out of the room.


	32. The Enterprise Incident Chapter 5

**Bleh. This chapter... officially hates me. It didn't want to be written and then Spock got mad at me for playing around with the plot too much and then Jim got pissed off at me for straying too far away from the original episode without a valid reason... so this chapter is basically trying to get everything back on track and throwing some random, but will be important later on information at you guys. **

**So, in essence, if this chapter sucks, that's why. Next chapter I promise will be better. But I think I get bonus points for having Spock quote _X-Men_ in this... kudos if you can point out the quote, who said it in the movie, and which movie it's actually from... And possibly a sneak peek at what's coming up... :) **

**I'm sorry for the delay in updates! But I should hopefully have the next chapter up soon(er)... **

**Please read and review! **

* * *

**The Voyages of the **_**USS Enterprise**_

**Arc 3**_: The _Enterprise_ Incident_

**Summary of arc:** It is two weeks from the one year anniversary of Nero's return. The Romulans are making suspicious movements on their side of the Neutral Zone, causing the _Enterprise_ to be called in to patrol the area. Acting against orders, Jim crosses the Neutral Zone, only to be caught by the Romulan patrol. He, along with Spock, gets transported aboard the Romulan ship as prisoner for questioning. While aboard, Jim accidentally uncovers a plot to overthrow the Federation, starting with a planet known as Angelus IV. But before Jim has the chance to relay his message to Starfleet, the Romulan commander orders his execution for treason and Jim must escape the ship before it's too late.

**Chapter 5: It's Kind of a Funny Story**

* * *

Spock was standing outside the communications room when Jim burst out like an untamed beast. Upon seeing his first officer, Jim let go of some of the anger.

"Spock," he said in way of greeting. "I have bad news."

"So do I," Spock returned gravely. Jim gestured for him to go first. "The _Enterprise_ has been unable to regain control of the navigation consul. Mr. Scott has been unsuccessful in finding a cause."

"Which means it isn't an engineering problem," Jim concluded darkly.

"There is no proof of that," Spock countered.

"There has yet to be an engineering problem n the _Enterprise_ that Scotty can't fix," Jim stated flatly. "I have no reason to believe that if this _was_ an engineering problem, Scotty wouldn't be able to fix it."

"You speak as though you have evidence of terrorism already," Spock said, raising an eyebrow.

"I said I had bad news," Jim muttered, clenching his hands into fists. He related the events of the communications room quickly and quietly to Spock. The half-Vulcan stood there passively, not saying a word, though his eyebrow continuously inched higher up his forehead.

"Commander Fredrick wants this war to happen," Jim finished, slowly unclenching his fists, only to immediately reclench them. "Or so it seems. I can't believe he wants us to cross the Neutral Zone on an audio transmission that could very well be faked."

"And if the transmission is real?" Spock inquired softly.

Jim looked away, unable to come up with an answer.

"I don't know," he admitted at last. "But how many Federation merchant ships have been granted access to trade with the Romulans over the past year?"

"Why do humans insist on asking questions to which they already know the answer?" Spock asked, looking simultaneously amused and annoyed, which, per usual, came off as looking completely indifferent.

Jim blinked, momentarily caught off guard. Yes, Spock's question had merit—Jim did know that no ships had been allowed over in the past year—but the Vulcan was generally had enough sense not to ask questions like that in the middle of a crisis.

"It's to prove a point, Spock," Jim said quickly. "There have been _none_."

"Therefore, the transmission is obviously faked," Spock said.

"Unless there was a merchant ship travelling near the Nuetral Zone and lost navigation and drifted across," Jim said. "And it's possible—it's happening to the _Enterprise_."

"Indeed, we have proved that anything is possible," Spock said. "But is it likely?"

"Can we really afford to take that risk?" Jim rebutted. He mentally swore as he realized what Spock had been getting at—they had no choice. They had to cross the Neutral Zone. He really hated it when Spock did those mind games—it made Jim feel incredibly stupid.

He sighed. "All right," he said. "But first, we have to get back to the _Enterprise_."

"Agreed," Spock said. "I have spoken with the Starbase engineers. Transporters are fully functional."

"Good," Jim said shortly. "Let's go."

* * *

Admiral Pike sighed heavily as he glanced out the window. He could just catch sight of the Golden Gate Bridge off in the distance. Absently, he wondered what would happen if he were to throw a certain idiotic captain off it. He would probably get a medal, especially after today's stunt.

"Chris," Archer said, drawing Pike's attention back to the problem at hand.

"I stand by what I said," Pike said firmly. "Jim wouldn't do something like this unless he was ordered to do it or unless he had very good reason."

"He wasn't ordered to do it," Archer said stubbornly. "I would know about it."

"Would you?" Pike challenged. Archer opened his mouth to argue, but Pike cut across him. "You said so yourself—you had orders not to tell me about this. How do you know for certain Kirk didn't have the same orders?"

"Because if he had, then this wouldn't be an issue!" Archer shouted. He took a deep breath. Calmer, he added, "I know you have a soft spot for the kid, which is the only reason why I informed you about this in the first place. But he is going to have a court martial for this and since he had no reason, he will probably lose the _Enterprise_."

"That's bullshit!" Pike slammed his first on his desk. "You're going to crucify him before he's even had the chance to defend himself."

"He shouldn't need to defend himself because he shouldn't have been across the zone in the first place," Archer said through gritted teeth.

"And what does Barnett think about this?" Pike questioned. Admiral Barnett was one of the highest ranking admirals in Starfleet—and it just so happened, he had a genuine liking for Jim.

"Barnett was in a serious hovercraft accident this morning," Archer said heavily. Pike stared in astonishment as Archer stood up. "He's in the Academy hospital's ICU. It doesn't look good, Chris. And neither does Kirk's future in Starfleet."

"What happened?" Pike demanded.

"I don't know," Archer said looking away again. "I got the call a couple of minutes before I heard about Kirk."

There was a brief moment of silence before a new thought occurred to Admiral Pike.

"Have you been able to raise communications with the _Enterprise_?" he asked.

Archer shook his head. "They're unresponsive," he said. "It makes sense. If I had disobeyed orders not to cross the Neutral Zone, then I wouldn't allow contact with the rest of Starfleet either."

"Don't you think that it's a little suspicious that the Neutral Zone barriers go down around the same time communications with the _Enterprise _cut out?" Pike asked, unable to believe that Archer was this willing to kick Jim out of Starfleet.

"That's why I need _you_ to contact the _Enterprise_," Archer said. "To see if it's a technical malfunction or if it's Kirk freezing the rest of us out. I know he will answer to you before he answers to anyone else. Or, at least, that communications' officer will patch you through before she patches through any of the rest of us."

"And no one else knows about this?" Pike guessed.

"I may not sound like it, but I do want to protect the kid," Archer said in lieu of an answer. "I want to know what really happened before the rest of the admirals fry him."

Pike nodded once in understanding. He reached for his communicator. "Whose idea was it not to tell me about this in the first place?" he asked as he punched in the code for the _Enterprise_.

"It was Admiral Kahn's," Archer said. "Why?"

Pike scowled. "No reason," he said.

There was a brief moment of silence, before the sound of Uhura's voice filled the office.

"_Admiral Pike_!" she exclaimed.

There was a lot of yelling and excited cheering in the background. A voice that sounded distinctly like Kirk's said, "_Thank god that problem's fixed. Patch him through to my chair._"

Pike shot Archer a very pointed glance.

"All right, all right," Archer said throwing up his hands. "I'll go talk to the rest of the admirals and see what I can do. Make sure you check in on Barnett before you leave."

He left the office.

"Kirk, what the hell are you doing out there?" Pike demanded.

There was something close to a hysterical chuckle coming from the _Enterprise_.

"_It's kind of a funny story,_" Jim began.


	33. The Enterprise Incident Chapter 6

**...Hi there. It's been... good god, has it really been seven months since I last updated? Holy crap. I am... I don't even know what to say to that. I didn't even realize it had been that long since i last wrote anything. I am really, truly sorry for leaving you guys hanging for so long. I don't know what happened... and I am really sorry. If any of you are still reading, this chapter is for you.**

* * *

**The Voyages of the **_**USS Enterprise**_

**Arc 3**_: The _Enterprise_ Incident_

**Summary of arc:** It is two weeks from the one year anniversary of Nero's return. The Romulans are making suspicious movements on their side of the Neutral Zone, causing the _Enterprise_ to be called in to patrol the area. Acting against orders, Jim crosses the Neutral Zone, only to be caught by the Romulan patrol. He, along with Spock, gets transported aboard the Romulan ship as prisoner for questioning. While aboard, Jim accidentally uncovers a plot to overthrow the Federation, starting with a planet known as Angelus IV. But before Jim has the chance to relay his message to Starfleet, the Romulan commander orders his execution for treason and Jim must escape the ship before it's too late.

**Chapter 6: Peace Treaty Violation**

* * *

Doctor McCoy very rarely saw a look as dark as the one Jim had on his face when he and Spock finally beamed back over to the _Enterprise_. And every time he did see that look, he felt the insane urge to run for cover.

Jim barely seemed to notice his friend standing there as he jumped off the transporter and strode out of the room. Doctor McCoy watched him go with surprise—what had happened over there?

McCoy looked to Spock, who had stepped off the transporter and was staring after the captain with something mildly akin to dissatisfaction on his face.

"What happened?" Doctor McCoy demanded.

Spock's face smoothed into an unreadable expression once more as he clasped his hands behind his back.

"That is not for me to discuss," he replied monotonously.

Doctor McCoy scowled and was about to launch into a tirade about unhelpful Vulcans and green blooded hobgoblins when Kirk's voice over the intercom cut him off.

"_Spock, I need you and Doctor McCoy on the bridge ASAP_," he said.

There was something off about Jim's voice—to go along with the dark look on his face and the unsettling feeling of anger that had been radiating off him since Doctor McCoy had first seen him that morning—but the doctor couldn't quite figure out what was going on.

Doctor McCoy stared at Spock, trying to figure out what was going on, but, per usual, the Vulcan didn't give anything away.

The doctor sighed as Spock turned and walked out of the transporter room, leaving him no choice but to follow.

* * *

Jim paced the floor of the bridge angrily, unwittingly increasing the stress the rest of his crew was feeling about being this close to the Neutral Zone. His hands rhythmically clenched into fists and then unclenched as he replayed the conversation between the Starbase commander and himself over and over again in his mind.

_That bastard,_ he mentally growled.

Of course, there was no way Commander Fredrick could know about Jim's past—it was top secret, highly classified information that was only available to those who were actually part of it—but to accuse a captain outright of being able to stand aside while innocent _children_ were murdered was completely unacceptable.

The boundary between the Neutral Zone and Federation space loomed ever closer. While the actual protections and safeguards had been dismantled in the shockwave, the image of the golden line in the stars was permanently seared into Jim's mind.

He took a deep breath and sighed, coming to a halt beside his chair. A dozen sets of anxious, terrified eyes looked up at him, obviously trying to figure out what was going on.

Jim didn't say anything, merely placed a white knuckled hand on the arm of his chair and nodded to Sulu.

It was time to start a war.

* * *

Doctor McCoy glanced around the silent bridge as he stepped out of the turbo lift, wondering what the hell happened to make everyone so tense. Then, his eyes rested on Jim and all of his half-formed questions were instantly answered.

Jim was practically vibrating with tension and anger, his eyes such a dark shade of blue that they were almost black. His left hand was clenched on the arm of the captain's chair, which he was standing beside instead of sitting in.

McCoy looked to Spock, who was fiddling with his consul almost absent mindedly. The doctor wasn't sure which of the two's actions alarmed him the most.

"About to cross the Neutral Zone," Sulu reported, his voice unnaturally loud in the dead silence of the bridge. "Five. Four. Three. Two. One. Neutral Zone crossed, Captain. We're officially in enemy territory."

If it was possible, the look on Jim's face darkened even more as he nodded once.

"Keep an eye out for Romulan ships," he ordered, in a hard voice that didn't suit him at all. "If you see any, fire at will."

There was a collective gasp from all of the bridge crew. Even Spock looked mildly alarmed, which was saying a lot, given the fact he never looked anything other than stoic or threatening, depending on the situation.

"Captain," Uhura began, but whatever protests she was about to were silenced instantly by the dark look Kirk shot her.

"If anyone has a problem with my orders, then they can report to their quarters," Jim stated flatly. "You will await official reprimand and be taken off duty for at least two weeks."

Doctor McCoy swallowed—as did many of the other bridge occupants—but no one moved so much as a muscle. It was clear that the crew had picked up on whatever mood their captain was in and wisely decided not to question him.

The doctor, however, had enough.

"Jim," he started in a soft voice.

"Doctor McCoy, I requested your presence in case of injury," Jim said, not looking away from the front view screen. "It is highly likely there will be bridge casualties if we run into the Romulans. In the mean time, I'd advise you remain silent."

The order chaffed, as did the way Jim used Doctor McCoy's title instead of his nickname.

"_Captain_," the doctor stated with as much sarcasm as he could muster. "May I remind you that as your doctor, your increased stress level has negative effects on your health as well as that of your crew, and if you insist on operating under these conditions, then I will be forced to relieve you of your command."

"You are no longer CMO, so you no longer are capable of that duty," Jim replied without an ounce of emotion in his voice. "Now, if you will kindly refrain from anymore outbursts, I will allow you to stay on the bridge."

McCoy opened his mouth to fire off a snappy retort, but the expressionless look on Jim's face brought him up short. There was no doubt in the doctor's mind that Jim would throw him off the bridge if he saw fit.

"Yes sir," he muttered instead, unable to help the bitter voice _sir_ popped out in.

Luckily, Jim didn't have time to respond, for in that moment, a Romulan ship appeared.

"Holy shit," Sulu breathed.

Doctor McCoy agreed.

* * *

A warning shot fired through empty space, exploding right behind the _Enterprise_ and sending a powerful shock through the ship.

"Sulu, prepare to fire photons on my order," Jim shouted as the bridge erupted into a flurry of activity and chatter.

"Captain, incoming message from the Romulans!" Uhura called out. "They're demanding to know why we're in the Neutral Zone."

"Put it on the main view screen," Jim ordered, unconsciously sliding into his chair.

The bridge fell utterly silent once more as the main view screen changed from the image of the Romulan ship to a regal looking Romulan woman. Jim was reminded forcefully of the day Nero blew up Vulcan, though he forced those memories out of his mind.

"_Captain Kirk,_" the woman said. "_You have crossed the Neutral Zone in direct violation of our peace treaty with your Federation._"

"You have a merchant vessel of ours," Jim retorted tightly, barely able to keep his voice level as Commander Fredrick's voice replayed in his head. _Do you want to be known as the man who stepped aside while innocent children were murdered?_

"_We have no such vessel,_" the Romulan said calmly.

Anger and an overpowering feeling of betrayal washed over Jim. Of course there wasn't a vessel.

"Our reports," Jim began in a grim voice.

"_Are wrong,_" the Romulan cut across him. "_And you have breached the treaty. You and your second in command will come aboard our ship for hostage negotiations._"

Jim opened his mouth to protest, but the Romulan once more cut across him.

"_If you do not beam aboard immediately, we will destroy your ship,_" she said. "_I am not going to play games with you, Captain. You either come aboard our ship, you will be killed._"


	34. The Enterprise Incident Chapter 7

**...What's this? Another update 2 weeks later? Gasp! **

**Thanks to everyone who's been reading and reviewing! It means a lot to me. :) This chapter is for you all.**

* * *

**The Voyages of the **_**USS Enterprise**_

**Arc 3**_: The _Enterprise_ Incident_

**Summary of arc:** It is two weeks from the one year anniversary of Nero's return. The Romulans are making suspicious movements on their side of the Neutral Zone, causing the _Enterprise_ to be called in to patrol the area. Acting against orders, Jim crosses the Neutral Zone, only to be caught by the Romulan patrol. He, along with Spock, gets transported aboard the Romulan ship as prisoner for questioning. While aboard, Jim accidentally uncovers a plot to overthrow the Federation, starting with a planet known as Angelus IV. But before Jim has the chance to relay his message to Starfleet, the Romulan commander orders his execution for treason and Jim must escape the ship before it's too late.

**Chapter 7: Really, Really Bad Plans**

* * *

The bridge erupted into angry chatter as soon as the Romulan transmission ended.

"Captain, you can't go over there!" Sulu protested. "She will kill you!"

"This goes against hundreds of Starfleet regulations!" Uhura added.

The rest of the crew had similar objections, all of which Jim barely heard. Instead, his attention was focused on Spock. The Vulcan was standing quietly off to the side, his hand clasped behind his back. When he met Jim's gaze, he nodded once.

Jim swallowed and returned the gesture. He stood up and the bridge fell silent.

"Mr. Sulu, you have the conn," he said. "Mr. Spock, Doctor McCoy, if you will come with me. Lieutenant Uhura, please alert Mr. Scott to meet us in the transporter room."

Everyone began protesting again, but Jim held up his hand for silence.

"We have already broken Starfleet law by crossing the Neutral Zone in the first place," he said. Sulu opened his mouth to voice his disapproval, but Jim cut across him. "The Federation isn't going to believe that this is a result of some engineering error nor are the Romulans. This is the only way we can avoid a war."

Stunned silence met his words. Jim turned and walked off the bridge before anyone else could protest.

* * *

Jim leaned against the wall of the transporter room, counting down from five in his head. Right as he got to one, Doctor McCoy stormed into the room, looking absolutely livid. Spock was directly behind him, as emotionless as ever.

"Jim, what the hell are you thinking?" Doctor McCoy demanded. "You can't seriously be thinking about going over there! Sulu's right—the Romulans _will_ kill you!"

"Bones," Jim began.

Doctor McCoy shook his head. "Do you have a death wish? Or have you been knocked in the head so many times that you have no more common sense?"

"Doctor McCoy," Spock spoke. Doctor McCoy paused mid-rant and looked at the Vulcan, who continued. "I am certain that the Captain has a plan that will not end in certain death."

Jim blinked. Coming from Spock, that was almost a compliment.

Doctor McCoy scowled. "You're both idiots. Everyone on this ship is an idiot. You know what, though? I don't care. If you want to be idiots, then fine. Go get yourselves killed. It's my day off anyway. Don't come crying to me when Jim winds up with a harpoon through his shoulder or choked to death or murdered in his sleep."

"I assure you, in the event that any of those things happen, I will not," Spock said with a completely serious expressions. "Vulcans do not cry."

Doctor McCoy looked flabbergasted. Jim shook his head, hiding a smile.

"Bones," he said again, calling his friend's attention back to him. "It will be okay. I've got a plan."

Doctor McCoy raised an eyebrow, looking scarily like Spock. "Oh?"

Jim's smile turned into a feral grin. "Yeah," he said.

He quickly outlined his somewhat hare brained scheme to Doctor McCoy. By the end, the doctor merely shook his head.

"You're an idiot," he reiterated. He turned to Spock. "What do you think of this?"

"It was his idea," Jim said.

Spock raised an eyebrow in a somewhat threatening manner, as though he were daring Doctor McCoy to call him an idiot.

The doctor sighed and threw up his hands. "Fine," he said. "All right. I won't tell anyone. But be careful, okay?"

Jim laughed. "Aren't I always?"

"No," Doctor McCoy sniped. "You're not."

* * *

Doctor McCoy leaned against the wall of the transporter room, feeling a sudden wave of exhaustion crash over him as he watched both Jim and Spock disappear in a burst of golden light. He had been up for over fifteen hours now and was beyond any normal realm of fatigue, but he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep until Jim and Spock were both safely back onboard.

Scotty punched in a few buttons on the transporter controls and let out a weary sigh.

"Much as I love this ship, some days, it's too bloody exciting," he muttered. He left without another word.

Doctor McCoy wondered what would happen if he just curled up here and fell asleep. It would save him a lot of effort of going to his quarters, only to come rushing back here when Jim's half-cocked scheme inevitably went sideways.

Before he had the chance to try his idea, the transporter doors swished open to reveal a very upset Doctor M'Benga.

"Doctor McCoy," he greeted stiffly. "Would you mind informing me what exactly is going on here? Have both the Captain and the Commander seriously left the ship?"

"Yes," Doctor McCoy replied just as formally.

"Why wasn't I informed?" M'Benga demanded.

McCoy shrugged. "Hell if I know," he said. "If you'll excuse me…"

"I know that the Captain is your best friend," M'Benga said as Doctor McCoy went to move past him. "But his lack of respect for Starfleet rules and regulations will one day get him into trouble."

"It hasn't so far," McCoy pointed out mildly.

"He's gotten lucky," M'Benga responded. "But everyone's luck runs out at some point. Even the great Captain Kirk's."

* * *

The moment Jim and Spock landed onboard the Romulan transporter pad, they were surrounded by a dozen armed and angry Romulans.

It was the first time since Nero's attack that Jim had been around any of their race and the first time he had been around any Romulans from this time line. They were different than Nero and his followers. For one, they lacked tattoos and angry expressions. Instead, they seemed almost _Vulcan_-like.

"Vulcans and Romulans are cousins," Spock stated when Jim commented on the fact. "But where Vulcans are dedicated to logic and science, the Romulans are more… _human_ in temperament."

They were led to a small room not too far away from the transporter pad.

"You will wait here," one of the Romulans said. "Our captain will be with you shortly."

The door was closed and locked, leaving Spock and Jim alone for the first time since that morning started.

The room was small, barely big enough for the small table and three chairs it contained. The walls were a very boring shade of metallic gray as were the table and chairs.

"Well, this sucks," Jim muttered, slumping into one of the chairs.

Spock walked over and sat stiffly in one of the other chairs, folding his hands together on top of the table. He looked almost… anxious about something.

"Captain," he began.

Jim shook his head. "I know what you're going to say, Spock, and I agree with you," he said. "But this whole thing has just been one giant disaster so far and I really don't want to discuss it at the moment."

Spock gave the Vulcan approximation of a scowl, but wisely fell silent.

A few minutes later, the door opened, revealing the captain of the Romulan ship.


End file.
